Dance While You Can
by kawree
Summary: Axel may have been one of the Organization's finest, but Lea finds he's not taking to Keyblade training quite so easily, and after more than ten years of mostly working for Organization Himself, he's having a little difficulty remembering how to play well with others. Good thing Kairi and Riku aren't the sort to give up easily. NO LONGER BEING UPDATED HERE, PLEASE GO TO AO3.
1. Flux Time and Wary Glances

Hi everyone, sorry for the inconvenience, but despite multiple messages in regard to an offensive review, the site admins just would not remove it or respond or anything. I tried deleting just the chapter that the review had been left on, but that didn't get rid of the review, so after sending them multiple messages over more than two months, I just had to remove the whole story and start over. Hopefully that person won't leave another; I blocked them, but that doesn't always help with these sorts.

Anyway, here we go again. The content hasn't changed, this is just re-uploaded as it was before. Sorry again for those who might have subscribed or anything, I hope I won't have to deal with that person again. Thanks for reading!

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Flux Time and Wary Glances**

 _In which Lea realizes he may have bitten off more than he can chew._

ミ

He had never really understood how people messed with the flow of time. Luxord could do it, and apparently Xehanort could, too, but Lea had always suspected that anyone who would screw with time had to be evil. Think of the potential to unravel the fabric of the cosmos, after all!

It certainly came as a surprise, then, to learn that _Merlin_ of all people had the capability as well. Not only was he seemingly going senile (Lea'd had to bite the corners of his mouth to keep from laughing when the old man lost his glasses in his beard), but he was mentor to King Arthur and arguably one of the most powerful mages of all time. Lea wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't been Yen Sid telling him. Merlin seemed a bit too ridiculous, in his opinion, but Lea of all people could appreciate someone whose appearance belied the power beneath it.

He was getting a bit tired of the training already, though.

"Can't we just fast-forward to the part where I don't suck at this?" he complained, thrusting his hand out for the seventeenth time and _willing_ that stupid spiky Keyblade to come to his fingers. It had come of its own accord that day in the tower, just in time to let him bask in the disbelief of his new comrades, but it had defied him ever since.

Typical. He supposed a Keyblade should suit its master, after all, and Lea was little if not a troublemaker always looking for the opportune moment to give someone a hard time. Hell, he was surprised he'd been told he had the potential at all! Sure, he had a shiny new heart and all (or a shiny old one, but who was counting, right?), but he'd been all but consumed by his own darkness for a time there. Castle Oblivion had really marked some of his darkest days, and he acknowledged that—he'd never told Roxas the truth about what had happened in that whitewashed castle, never admitted to his friend that he was a _murderer..._ How could a Keyblade come to the hand of a killer?

"You're doing it again," came Merlin's chastising voice, and Lea snapped his head up.

"Huh?"

The old wizard wagged a finger at him from where he stood on the opposite side of the room in the space that defied time. He approached him, finger still wagging, and Lea inanely found himself wondering how Merlin didn't _trip_ over that beard of his.

"You're thinking too hard about it," he said, and Lea made a face.

"So what am I supposed to do?" he asked, shaking his head. "It isn't like it just shows up all willy-nilly. That'd be no good anyway—imagine if it did that at the dinner table."

Merlin just gave him a wry look. "There is a certain sort of stragety—ah, er, strategy—to summoning a weapon, Lea," he said, twirling his beard around one hand, a fidget Lea had noticed him indulging often recently. "You have no trouble summoning your other weapons, correct?"

Lea snapped both arms out and called up his chakrams easily, the spiked wheels whorling into the space against his palms. He closed his fingers around the crossguards and hooked one over his shoulder, slumping a bit. He made no comment, figuring the demonstration was response enough.

Merlin 'hmm'ed to himself and turned to walk past him.

"It seems to me, then," he said, "that your issue is not with the summoning of _a_ weapon, but with the summoning of _this particular_ weapon."

Lea rolled his eyes while the old wizard's back was turned. "Thank you, Captain Obvious," he grumbled, dismissing his chakrams in a puff of smoke and heat.

"Perhaps all you need is the right stimulus," he said, and Lea turned to look at him.

"Stimulus?" This wasn't going to involve shock-therapy, was it? He'd gotten more than enough of that from Larxene.

"You've been trying so hard," Merlin said, reaching for a door that Lea swore hadn't been there a moment ago, "but you've been working on your own."

"Well, it ain't like I've got a partner anymore," he blurted before he thought better of it. The words were bitter, distasteful, tumbling clumsily from his mouth like he couldn't stand them on his tongue.

Everything had happened so quickly that he hadn't really had a chance to stop and think on it all. Maybe it was better that way. Those few times he'd paused to wonder what had happened to Roxas that new old heart of his had just seized up almost painfully. It was eerie, he mused, the way he'd "felt" that same crushing sensation that night Roxas had left the Organization. Maybe it was true they'd had hearts all along, maybe it was true he'd somehow grown himself another... maybe he would never know for certain. All he knew now was he couldn't make excuses anymore. He _had_ a heart and now he had to deal with the feelings that came with it, uncomfortable though they might have been.

Roxas was _gone._ His best friend was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. And it _vexed_ him.

Lea didn't resent Sora for what had happened, really—he didn't have to know Sora well to know that the kid wouldn't have _chosen_ to cause someone not to exist for his sake. He wasn't sorry he'd saved the kid's ass, and he certainly wasn't sorry he'd promised to help Riku look after him, either. He had a feeling it was going to take all of them working together to make sure Xehanort didn't get what he wanted.

Lea would have been lying though, to say that he wouldn't have given up that heart in... well, a heartbeat, if it would have brought Roxas back. There had been a time when it was all he'd wanted, when the thought of having a heart again was the only thing that made the missions worth it. Roxas had trumped all of that, and he still couldn't believe the kid was _gone,_ even if there were times he could swear he saw Roxas' expressions behind Sora's eyes.

It was eerie, like seeing a ghost, and then Lea shivered at the very idea of referring to Roxas that way.

He snapped out of his morose musings when he realized Merlin was still talking.

"Huh, what?" He shook his head and turned to face him where he stood with his hand on the doorknob. "Sorry, I faded out for a minute there."

Merlin sighed long-sufferingly and turned the doorknob.

"I think it would behoove you to have someone to train _with_ ," he said, "so I've arranged to combine your training sessions with my other pupil."

"Other pupil?" Jeez, how many Keyblade wielders _were_ there?

"I believe you two have met, actually," Merlin said, and Lea glanced up in time to see a familiar figure step through the door.

"Ah—!" He made a wordless noise of alarm and took a step back, then jabbed a finger at the figure in the doorway. "W-wait are you kidding? I can't train with—"

"Ah!" It seemed Merlin hadn't informed Kairi of her new sparring partner's identity beforehand either. She jabbed a finger back at him and glowered. "I can't train with him!"

... Well that was just _rude._

"Merlin, I really don't think this'll work," Lea said, shaking his head, and Kairi folded her arms over her chest.

"I thought I'd heard you were here and had a Keyblade," she said, shaking her head incredulously, "but I thought Riku was pulling my leg."

He scoffed and folded his arms indignantly. "Well, surprise surprise, Princess!"

"I can't train with a kidnapper," she grumbled toward Merlin, gesturing at Lea, and Lea bristled visibly.

"Hey, I _tried_ to get you to come willingly," he said, and she crinkled her nose at him.

"Yeah, and then you _kidnapped_ me."

"Yeah, and then you _bit_ me!"

"All right, all right, settle down, children," Merlin said, holding his hands up and then closing the door. "You've both been chosen to wield Keyblades, so there's no reason for you to bicker between yourselves. You're supposed to be on the same team."

Kairi didn't look entirely convinced, and Lea gave a gusty sigh. All right, all right, he was an adult, right? He could do this.

"Okay, fine, the old man's got a point," he said quietly, averting his eyes and then looking back at Kairi, who was still regarding him with suspicion. He had to figure she didn't know what had happened to him, that the only reason he was here at all was because he'd given up everything to aid Sora. He had a feeling she wouldn't be wearing that wary scrutinizing face if she knew. Well, he wasn't going to just play his trump card yet. But he _did_ owe her one thing, and he couldn't hide behind the idea that his heart wouldn't be in it anymore. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" He sort of flapped his arms helplessly at his sides. "I know it prolly doesn't mean anything to you, but I was doing what I thought needed to be done."

Kairi's expression softened a little, though the suspicion remained. They had had a bit of a conversation in the corridors between worlds that day he'd taken her from Twilight Town. He had thought they'd reached some kind of understanding... but he supposed being taken by Saïx had sort of put a strain on that. He didn't know how badly he might have treated her, didn't know what she might have gone through in the castle. Sure, he had tried to keep Saïx from taking her, and yes, he had gone to the castle to try and get her out, but he was an accomplished actor and he knew she knew it. It really didn't come as any surprise she was wary.

But he needed to learn to wield a Keyblade, and if having a sparring partner was the only way to do it, well, then... so be it. There wasn't a lot Lea swallowed his pride for, but maybe this was one of those things.

He took a few steps forward to close the distance between them and stuck one hand out.

"I promise not to kidnap you anymore," he said, venturing a hesitant grin, and Kairi regarded the offered hand a moment.

Then she lifted her bright blue eyes to him and squinted, as if searching his gaze for something sinister. Apparently she found nothing, because she deigned to close her small hand around his and shake it firmly—she had a sturdier handshake than he'd expected—before releasing it and pointing her finger at him again.

"I still don't trust you," she said, though there was no real malice in her voice, "but... if you're here, then Master Yen Sid does. And... apparently Riku and Sora do." She lowered her eyes, her fingers closing around the little sphere pendant on the necklace she wore, and she was quiet a moment before lifting her head again. "So I'll trust _them,_ so I guess we can work together," she said, "but _you're_ going to have to _earn_ my trust; I'm not just gonna give it to you."

Lea chuckled. "Fair enough," he said. "Show me what you've got."

She brushed past him, her stride confident and her shoulders thrown back—she really _was_ a princess, even if so far as he knew her blood was no bluer than his. And as he watched her turn on her heel and face him, a flowery Keyblade shimmering into her grip, he suddenly felt a little inadequate. He was a good ten years her senior and yet she'd obviously picked this up without any trouble. Lea struggled a moment with the humbling idea that it really _shouldn't_ have been so easy to win the trust or respect of a princess. No easier than, say, wielding a Keyblade.

Granted, if someone had told Lea once upon a time that he would ever have the opportunity to do either, he wasn't sure he would have believed them.


	2. Bloody Knuckles and Changes of Plan

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Bloody Knuckles and Changes of Plan**

 _In which there is much bickering._

ミ

His knuckles were bleeding. That was new.

"Ow— _ow_! Okay, hold the walkie for a second!" He dismissed his Keyblade and held both hands up, frantically making a time out signal, and Kairi huffed, propping her free hand on her hip. Lea glowered fiercely at her and rubbed at his bruised, bloodied hand before casting a low-level Cure spell to dull the pain. " _Sheesh_ , you don't pull your punches, do ya, Princess?" he asked. "Stop _hitting_ so hard."

"Then try hitting me _back_ ," Kairi countered, and Lea stared at her expression a moment. There was something familiar about the angry look on her face, something that made everything behind his ribs seize up and ache for some reason, and he shook his head quickly.

"I can't just _hit_ you," he said, folding his arms and popping one hip, "you're a _girl_."

"Ex _cuse_ you," she snapped, stomping her foot, "but you didn't seem to have any trouble _kidnapping_ me."

"But I didn't _hurt_ you!"

"All right, you two, that's enough."

Both redheads turned when Riku's voice cut through the bickering, and Kairi dismissed Destiny's Embrace, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. Lea couldn't tell if she was mocking his posture or if she just also stood that way when she was pissed off, but it didn't really matter. His lip curled in something like contempt as Riku deliberately stepped between them, like a hall monitor breaking up a fight between the lockers, and he rolled his eyes at the look he was being given. Why did Riku always make _him_ out to be the bad guy?

"What's the problem here?" he asked in his best no-nonsense I'm In Charge Here voice, and Lea rolled his eyes harder.

"She wants me to _hit_ her," Lea blurted, and Kairi made an indignant noise.

"I want you to take me _seriously_ ," she corrected, and Riku just made a loud wordless noise and lifted both arms, positioning his hands in front of both of their faces as though blocking them from one another's line of sight would help.

"E _nough_ ," Riku repeated, looking from Kairi to Lea and then back to Kairi. "What happened?" he asked, and Lea just rolled his eyes again. (He was going to get dizzy at this rate.) Of course he would ask _Kairi_ what happened.

She shook her head. "He's holding back," she complained, putting both hands on her hips. "He dodges my attacks and redirects my advances, but he won't strike back."

Lea growled and sliced a hand through the air. "You really _want_ me to hit you?" he asked. "Seriously, what kind of man just _hits_ a girl?"

"The enemy," Riku provided, nipping any response Kairi might have had in the bud before reaching out and grabbing Lea's wrist. Lea made a startled noise and fought the urge to recoil reflexively as Riku examined the bruising on his knuckles. "What'd you do to yourself?"

" _She_ did it," he insisted sullenly, yanking his hand away and cradling it against his chest, and Riku sighed long-sufferingly, kneading his forehead with one hand.

"Merlin said you two were having trouble," he muttered, obviously more to himself than to them, "but this is ridiculous."

" _You're_ ridiculous," Lea echoed quietly, mockingly, before he thought better of it, then stiffened where he stood, a comically severe expression on his face, as if daring Riku to deny it. Riku mostly ignored him, which just made Lea angrier.

"Kairi, take a quick break, okay?" Riku absently rubbed at his left wrist and then gestured behind him toward the doors of Yen Sid's tower. After Lea had complained for the seventeenth time about the claustrophobic nature of the room out of time that Merlin had been training them in, they'd been sent to the yard. The truth was Lea wasn't claustrophobic at all, he just hated the old wizard's eyes on them the whole time. "Master Yen Sid wanted to talk to you about your magic performance anyway."

She grimaced, looking uncertain about this, and Lea took a brief moment to look smug. Kairi was actually a barely passable mage, and he found this _hilarious_. Wasn't it some unspoken rule of battle that girls were always the mages? Every video game he had ever whupped Isa at when they were kids, the girl in the party was the healer, and somehow Kairi being even worse at Cure than _he_ was struck his funnybone right on the head. She could swing that Keyblade as hard as any of them, and he was pretty confident she could kick like a mule (she could _bite_ like one, in any case), but even if she had pulled ahead on the Keyblading half of their training regimen, at least he still had her bested in magic.

Not that Riku seemed too impressed by that.

Lea took a half step back as Riku moved to stand directly in front of him. It was remarkable to him that this kid who was a good half a head shorter than he was could still manage to be so damn intimidating. It was his eyes, Lea decided: they were so bright he swore they had to glow in the dark, and they made him look really intense.

"… What?" he asked, folding his arms defensively again, and Riku stepped back and summoned his Keyblade. Lea threw both hands up in front of him. "Whoa, whoa, hey, take it easy!" he gasped, backpedaling. "Come on, man, I'm on your side, remember?"

"Right," Riku said with a nod, "and your sparring partner is me now."

"Hah?" This wasn't part of the plan. Lea _knew_ Riku could kick his ass, and getting his ass kicked was not on today's agenda.

"You wouldn't attack Kairi because she's a girl," Riku said, shifting into his usual stance, with his Keyblade drawn up and his left arm extended, "so I'll be your partner."

Lea made a face like he'd eaten something hideously sour.

" _Hell_ no," he said, crossing both arms in an X in front of him. "Not interested, nope, no way sorbet, I am _so_ not putting myself on the receiving end of your Keyblade of my own volition. No, _thank_ you."

Riku grinned and Lea felt his heart sink.

"You say that like you've got a choice!"

With a squawk of alarm, Lea leapt backward as Riku swiped his blade through the air, very nearly missing slashing the front of his coat open.

"Hey, _watch_ it, I can't replace this anymore!" he complained, ducking low and then snapping one leg out to maybe sweep Riku's feet from beneath him.

"Oh come on, is that really the best you can do?" Riku taunted, easily jumping over the sweep and twisting in the air. Lea threw himself to the ground and rolled, but Riku was too fast, and the redhead found himself staring down the feathered wing of Way to the Dawn where it was positioned alongside his neck.

Dismissing his Keyblade, Riku gave Lea a pointedly unimpressed look.

"Well _that_ was pathetic," he said, shaking his head. "You're thinking too much, and you're way too focused on everything around you instead of me—you need to learn to take in your surroundings without being distracted by them."

Lea glared at him. "I wasn't _ready_ ," he huffed, and Riku's expression darkened.

"You really think Xehanort's gonna wait for you to be _ready_?" he asked, offering a hand to help Lea back to his feet. "He knows he's got us outnumbered and outgunned; he's _counting_ on us not being ready. You really wanna give him that?"

"No." Lea's reply was churlish and petulant, and he brushed Riku's offered hand away with a grunt, getting to his feet and dusting off his rear.

"Then you need to start taking this seriously," Riku said, and Lea all but snarled at him.

"Don't tell me I'm not taking this seriously," he snapped, jabbing an accusatory finger at the younger man. "If you think I wasn't serious as drowning when I told Yen Sid I was on board with this then you've got another thing coming, Riku."

Riku folded his arms, his brow furrowed. "Then what's the problem?" His inquiry was vexingly plain, infuriatingly benign, and Lea averted his eyes.

"I _suck_ ," he said, sulking. "I can barely get the damn Keyblade to listen to me, let alone do anything useful."

"Ax— er... Lea."

Lea tried not to bristle. He failed.

Riku regrouped. "We all sucked at first," he said, and Lea scoffed bitterly.

"No you didn't," he said, shaking his head. "You and Sora, Kairi, the king, even _Xehanort,_ you were all _chosen_. The Keyblade came to _you._ "

Riku abruptly looked down and away, his hands curling into fists. "That isn't—"

"Isn't it?" _Wasn't_ that the whole point? "It deemed you worthy without being asked! Me, I had to _force_ it. Square peg in a round hole, you know?"

"Lea, what matters is it _did_ accept you," Riku said, holding his hands up then, obviously trying to diffuse the situation. "You know Sora wasn't its first choice, either."

Lea arched one thin eyebrow. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"What do you want me to tell you, then?" Riku asked, folding his arms again and regarding Lea sternly. "Nobody's born a master at anything. You had to learn how to use your chakrams, right?"

"Well, yeah—"

"So how's this any different?"

Lea hefted a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "'Cuz I got used to actually being _good_ at stuff," he admitted with candor, and Riku somehow looked both forgiving and surprised at the same time. "I was good at being a jerk."

"You still are," Riku snorted. "Now you just have to learn how to be a jerk who's good with a Keyblade."

Lea gave him the dirtiest look he was capable of. "And how do you propose I do _that_ , _Master_ Riku?"

Riku's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the sarcastic use of his title, but didn't acknowledge the jab. Instead he just extended his hand.

"By training with a jerk who's already good with a Keyblade."

There was a beat of silence, and Lea looked suspicious. "I thought I was training with Kairi," he said, and Riku shrugged one shoulder.

"She'll need to work with us too," he said, "since Sora's not here and we don't have an even number to pair off. You're gonna need to get over your fear of hitting girls, Lea."

"I'm not _afraid_ of hitting girls," Lea snapped, and Riku snorted a laugh.

"Uh huh." He didn't sound convinced. "Whatever you wanna call it, it's a luxury you're not going to have, either way."

Lea examined Riku's hand a moment, like he expected there to be a buzzer in his palm or something, then sighed. Well, Riku did make a compelling argument: he _was_ a jerk. He shook Riku's hand firmly, then refused to let go for a moment, pulling him forward a step.

"Don't you _ever_ pull that surprise attack crap on me again, you hear me?" he snarled with mostly mock menace, squeezing Riku's hand as hard as he could, "or I'll light those oversized shoes of yours on fire."

He released Riku's hand (watching with a degree of satisfaction as Riku wrung said hand and rubbed at it with a frown on his face) and folded his arms. He _did_ want to learn, he really did. He wanted to fight alongside Sora and Riku and the rest of them, he _wanted_ to take Xehanort down. He wanted to find a way to get Roxas back.

He wanted to save _Isa_.

He just had no idea how the hell he was going to pull any of it off.

"So what now, _maestro_?" he asked, watching Riku's eyes narrow again. What? He hadn't even been sarcastic that time!

Riku hooked his thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans and frowned, then nodded.

"Now I think we go shopping."

Lea twisted a finger in his ear. "Come again?"

"You're one of the good guys now, Lea," he said, turning to head back into the tower, "so quit dressing like a villain."

Lea made an indignant noise and gestured at his coat. "Hey— come on, this is _functional_!" he said, jogging up the stairs after Riku. "I sure hope _you're_ not my fashion consultant; vests are _so_ six months ago."

He had a feeling this was the beginning of a very long, very annoying chapter in his life.


	3. Laying Tracks

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Laying Tracks**

 _In which Lea and Kairi have a soft reset._

ミ

Kairi almost hadn't recognized him, which was fairly impressive, given how distinctive Lea looked. Without his Black Coat and with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, he had looked like a completely different person for a moment, but when she took stock of what he was wearing instead, she knew exactly what had happened. Really, there was no other explanation for the tight shirt and baggy pants.

"Oh no, you let Riku take you shopping, didn't you?" she gasped, bringing her hands to her face and covering her mouth with her fingertips.

Lea blinked, glanced down at his clothes, then looked back at her. "Is there a problem?" he asked, and Kairi worried at her lower lip.

"Well, at least he didn't stuff you in a vest," she said, and Riku made an indignant sound in the back of his throat.

"There's nothing wrong with vests," he insisted, and Lea still just looked confused as to why they were even discussing any of this. Riku gestured at him with a look of incredulity. "Well the scarf was all his idea—I told him it looked dumb."

"Your _face_ looks dumb," came Lea's perfectly reasonable and mature retort.

Kairi sighed and shook her head, getting to her feet and dusting off her backside. She had been sitting on the stairs that led up to Yen Sid's tower. Her magic lesson with Merlin had ended a little early (she suspected it had something to do with the fact that she had accidentally set his beard on fire), and since the boys had been nowhere to be found, she'd been out anyone to spar with. After running through her sword forms a few times, she had dismissed Destiny's Embrace and just sat down on the stairs to wait.

She really hated waiting.

Cupping her cheek in one hand and her elbow in the other, Kairi looked from Lea to Riku and back, and then shook her head.

"No, it's just no good," she said, and Lea looked like he couldn't decide if he was confused or offended. She extended both arms forward at them, and they exchanged a dubious look before tentatively reaching out to take her hands. "Come on," she said, stepping between them to pull them back in the direction they had come. "I'm not training with you guys looking like that, it's embarrassing."

Riku stumbled backward with her tug and pinwheeled his free arm to keep his balance, twisting around and pulling his hand from hers before she got too far. "Wait, what? Kairi, that's ridiculous, there's nothing wrong with these clothes."

Lea seemed content to just walk backwards beside her, looking more intrigued now, and he waved jovially at Riku as they continued walking without him.

"Hey, if she wants to buy me stuff I'm not gonna say no," he called, and Kairi let go of Lea's hand to turn back to Riku.

"Riku, really," she said, "your pants are like four sizes too big and your shirt is like two inches too short. I'm amazed you don't trip yourself—how do you even fight like that?"

"She makes a valid point," Lea said, and Kairi gave him a dubious sidelong glance.

"Oh don't get me started on the impracticality of fighting someone in a full-length leather trenchcoat," she said.

"Well what about you fighting Heartless in a _dress_?" Riku challenged, and Kairi folded her arms with a huff.

"Gosh, and here I was pretty sure I wore _shorts_ most of the time when we played together as kids," she countered. "If I had known that coming to find you was gonna involve combat? I'd have changed before I left." She gestured at today's outfit: a cream-colored romper with flower accents and an asymmetrical neckline. "In case you hadn't noticed, I dress for the _occasion_."

"Another valid point," Lea piped up, and Riku glowered at him.

"Whose side are you on?" he demanded, and Lea shrugged.

"Whosever's is buying me stuff."

Kairi snorted a laugh. Well, at least he had priorities. She waved a hand to sort of beckon for Lea to follow her.

"Come on," she said. "Riku's gonna sulk until we're gone, and then he'll follow us."

Lea arched his eyebrows and turned around to walk forward again, matching her gait. "Will he?" he asked conspiratorially, and she nodded.

"Mmhm, just wait," she said. "We'll get to Twilight Town and he'll be on the next train. Guaranteed."

"Train?" Lea looked baffled, and Kairi blinked up at him.

"Oh, you've never been on it?" She was actually kind of excited. Yen Sid had told her about the magic train that linked his tower to Twilight Town, but she hadn't had the chance to ride it yet. She hadn't wanted to go to Twilight Town all alone, after all—what would she have done there with no one to talk to? She supposed she could have gone to see Hayner, Pence, and Olette, but they probably just would have had a bunch of questions about Sora like last time. At least if she had someone else with her she had an excuse to dodge them. "Master Yen Sid told me the train used to go other places too, but most of the paths had to be closed down when the Heartless got out of hand."

"You mean the _ghost train_?" Lea looked suddenly alarmed, almost comically so, and Kairi made a face at him.

"It isn't a ghost," she said, shaking her head. "It's a real train."

"One of those Seven Wonders of Twilight Town, right?" Lea shook his head quickly. "You mean to tell me that Pence kid was _right_?"

Kairi paused in her steps and just searched Lea's face a moment, wondering if Riku had hit him over the head today. "Lea it's not a ghost train," she said, tapping her chin with one finger, "though I guess since most people can't see it, I understand where that rumor comes from." She started forward again, clasping her hands behind her back and laughing a bit. "I didn't think you were such a scaredy-cat."

Lea huffed and jogged after her. "I'm not _scared_ ," he insisted, and she just laughed again, headed for the edge of the grass.

As they approached the ledge, a shimmering set of blue-green train tracks seemed to appear out of nowhere, like one of those hologram stickers Kairi used to put all over her notebooks when she was in primary school. She actually had no idea how this worked, and her eyes grew wide with wonder as the air above the tracks hitched and warped and began to glow brightly. Backing up a step, she bumped into Lea, who absently planted a hand on her shoulder as if to steady her, his gaze just as wide and befuddled as the white glow slowly became a single train car.

"That's different," he mused, and she just nodded. He glanced down at her, quickly pulling his hand away, and quirked his mouth slightly downward. "Do you think it's safe?" he asked, and she looked back at the train car.

It was blue and gold and covered in stars, crowned with a pointed hat much like Yen Sid's. With a sharp exhale, Kairi threw her shoulders back. It _had_ to be safe. Master Yen Sid wouldn't have made the suggestion otherwise, right?

She cast Lea an impish smile.

"I thought you weren't scared," she teased, and stepped through the open doorway into the train car.

* * *

They spent the first seven minutes of the ride in completely, utterly awkward silence, seated opposite one another, her arms stiff and fists on her thighs and his arms folded with one ankle propped on his opposite knee. It had been easy to tease him when she knew Riku was right there, but somehow once the tram door had closed a lance of apprehension had snaked into her gut.

She knew that Lea was not Axel. She _knew_ that! Just like Roxas was not Sora and Naminé was not her, this man in front of her was _not_ the same man who had kidnapped her... was he? For that matter, was it so bad if he _was_? She hadn't been able to figure Axel out. Traveling through the corridors with him, he had spoken to her like anybody would have; he had confessed that he only wanted to find his friend, and had even tried to protect her when that awful man with the blue hair had taken her away. He had suffered terrible injuries trying to _help_ her, so why was she so nervous about being here, in this train car with his Somebody?

Kairi stared at the backs of her hands, her brow drawn and her lips pressed together tightly. Maybe she was being unfair. He hadn't hurt her, even when he'd taken her by the arm and pulled her into that corridor. He had returned to the castle at great risk to himself to try and free her, and she had just thrown her tray of food at him, angry and resentful. The kneejerk ire had remained, even after all this time had passed; she hadn't really _meant_ to be so sharp when Merlin had suggested they spar together, it had just come out that way!

Everyone made mistakes, right? Didn't he deserve a second chance?

"Ah... so..." She lifted her head to look at him, then quickly looked away again. Oh, his eyes were closed—maybe he was sleeping.

Maybe this had been a bad idea.

"You're thinking awful hard over there," he said, and she jumped, startled, her gaze snapping back to his again, and she took a moment to note inanely that his eyes, now open and fixed on her, were almost the same shade of green as the whorling auroras outside the windows. He hadn't moved, his arms still folded and his leg still drawn up, one thin eyebrow arched. "Munny for your thoughts," he said, and she fidgeted.

What was she supposed to say? There was no way to talk about who Lea was versus who Axel had been without sounding like a jerk, and Kairi didn't want to be a jerk. She held his gaze a moment, then looked away again, shaking her head.

"Never mind," she said, and Lea made a sharp noise, like he'd suddenly remembered something.

"Ah! I get it," he said, and Kairi looked up again.

"Huh?"

"This is a counter-kidnap, isn't it?" There was a reckless look in his eye. "You're getting me back for that time before. Very clever, very clever indeed."

Now she was _really_ starting to wonder if Riku had hit him over the head.

"What?" She shook her head, as though she hadn't quite understood what he'd even said. "No, it's nothing like that! I would never kidnap someone!" She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. Oh, that had come out wrong. "I mean—! Not that people who kidnap people are bad!" Wait. That was wrong too. "W-well, I mean, they _are_ , but... I'm not saying _you're_ bad—"

"Easy, Princess, don't have an aneurysm." Lea was laughing quietly into one hand, his thin shoulders shaking, and Kairi wasn't sure if she was angry or flustered or just plain mortified. "I'm just messing with you. You know, trying to lighten the mood?"

She puffed her cheeks out a little, definitely leaning toward angry now, but there was something kind of pleasant about Lea's laughter. It actually sounded genuine, and somehow that wasn't what she had expected from him. Axel had reminded her of a cactus: sharp and prickly, guarded, but mostly because he had no other means of really defending himself. His approach on the beach had been dramatic, with flourish, and as Kairi had deconstructed the events that had led up to her being there in that cell with Pluto in the basement of the Castle that Never Was, she had realized that that was _all_ it had been: drama. Flourish. Axel had been an actor, a marionette intent on tangling his own strings. He had been forceful, but not unkind, and only in retrospect had the pain in his eyes really registered to her. By then it had been too late.

Kairi had expected Lea to be the same way, but he wasn't. Lea looked the same (sans those odd tattoos) and sounded the same (perhaps with his sarcasm dialed back a few degrees), but he _wasn't_ the same, and she hadn't been able to figure out why until right then: he wasn't _acting_ anymore.

"Do you remember it all?" she asked impulsively, and then bit her lip as if considering taking it back. No... no, she wanted to know. "I mean... when you were... before. Do you remember it?"

"I remember everything," he said plainly, shrugging one shoulder, and then tapped his temple. "I'd be a hypocrite otherwise; got it memorized?"

She gave him a slightly dubious smile, then lowered her eyes.

"I just wondered," she said, fidgeting again. "I... don't. I mean, I remember what happened to _me_ , but not to Naminé. There's bits and pieces, like scenes from a montage, but I don't really _remember_ it."

Lea shook his head. "Why would you?" he asked, sounding sincerely curious, and she met his eye again.

"You just said that _you_ do." She worried at her lower lip again, lacing and unlacing her fingers. "Axel was your Nobody, right? And now you're Lea. Naminé was _my_ Nobody, but now that we're together, I don't know everything that happened to her."

He rolled his shoulders and then rubbed the back of his neck, like the positing of this situation had caught him somehow unprepared. Kairi still didn't really understand a lot of what had happened, but she didn't even know where to begin asking for answers. She wasn't even sure she _wanted_ those answers, because something told her she wouldn't like them even if she got them.

"Why do you remember, but I don't?" she asked, shaking her head. Lea's brow furrowed, a very sharp crinkle forming between them, and in that moment there was something almost familiar, nostalgic, about the expression.

"Roxas and Naminé, they were special," he said after a long pause, folding his arms again and not looking at her. "They... had their own hearts, from the beginning, I'm pretty sure of that." He met her eyes briefly, then looked beyond her, to the glowing lights outside the window. "You and Naminé might be two pieces of something bigger," he said, "but you're still whole pieces. Your hearts are your own, and so are your memories."

"I remember you, though."

Lea met her eye again, looking half confused and half apprehensive, and Kairi placed a hand over her heart.

"I can't quite see it," she said, shaking her head, "but I can _feel_ it. You helped Naminé, and she was grateful, and... I remember that." She lowered her head, trying to concentrate. "You were kind to her when no one else was, and she never forgot that. She... wanted to repay you."

He shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck again, and then waved one hand dismissively.

"Well, you might also wanna remember that she saved my life and doesn't owe me a darn thing," he said stiffly. "Can we talk about something else now, if we're gonna be chummy?"

Kairi chuckled, bringing a hand to her face. "You don't have to be embarrassed," she said, and he huffed indignantly, which only made her laugh more. "I knew you were wrong."

"Wrong?" He squinted at her. "About what?"

"When you said you weren't a bad guy, but you weren't a good guy." She shook her head. "I think you've been a good guy the whole time, you just tried really hard not to be."

Lea's face screwed up sharply, his expression shifting from startled to disgruntled to uncertain and maybe even touching on sad somewhere before he settled on resigned, and he shook his head.

"I was wrong about a lot of stuff," he said, "but I don't think I was wrong about that. Axel wasn't a good guy. He was a bad guy who _wanted_ to be a good guy, but he waited too long to try."

Kairi was quiet for a moment, letting these words sink in, and then she got to her feet. Lea looked a little unsettled as she crossed the tram car and sat down beside him, half an arm's distance away. She kicked her feet back and forth a moment, then looked at him sidelong.

"Somebody told me once that if you have a dream, you can't wait, you have to act."

"Oh, you memorized that, huh? Sounds like someone who needed to take his own advice if you ask me." His voice was bitter, and she shook her head.

"Mm, I think maybe he did," she said, kicking her feet again, watching the auroras across the way.

"Too late," he muttered.

"Maybe that's why he got a second chance."

There was a long pause, and then Lea folded his arms again with a noncommittal grunt.

"I'm sorry I threw food at you that time," Kairi said then, stilling her legs and pressing her lips together, "and busted your hand up the other day. I still can't quite figure you out; you're kind of hard to get to know."

"Yeah, well..." He hefted a sigh. "Old habits, I guess."

"Think we could start over?"

He regarded her out of the corner of his eye, and she looked up at him with curious optimism. Kairi had wondered, while she was locked in that cell in the castle dungeon, why it had felt like Axel had helped her before. She still didn't have an answer for that, but something about the tone in his voice and the way his forehead crinkled up with puzzlement stirred the same feeling in her heart. Getting to know him wasn't going to be quick or easy, of that she had no doubt, but she had a feeling that Lea had a lot more answers than he realized. All she had to do was figure out what the questions were. She turned in her seat and bowed her head neatly at him.

"My name's Kairi," she said. "Nice to meet you. Since we're gonna be sparring partners, I hope we can be friends too."

Lea just stared at her a moment, then reached out and tapped one finger under her chin to lift her head.

"You sure you don't wanna wait 'til you get to know me before you decide you wanna be my friend?" he asked, and she smiled broadly and shook her head.

"Waiting isn't good enough," she said, and there was a single heavy beat of silence before Lea just threw his head back and laughed.

That was when Kairi decided maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.


	4. The Next Aisle Over

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: The Next Aisle Over**

 _In which Riku is a terrible ninja._

ミ

Riku was convinced they were doing this on purpose. First they'd gone shoe shopping, of all things. There was nothing wrong with Lea's _boots_ , those were perfectly functional for fighting! They were sturdy and tall enough to buffer blows to the shins, even, so he didn't know why in the world Kairi had decided he needed new ones. For that matter, there was nothing wrong with the clothes _he_ had picked out for Lea. Kairi was just meddling for the sake of meddling, he was sure of it. Baggy pants left room for free movement, but baggy _sleeves_ got in the way of your swing, so a shirt had to either have no sleeves or have tight ones. Lea's coat had had tapered sleeves, at that, so he'd understood the concept well enough. Kairi just didn't get it.

She did, however, get Lea a pair of sneakers that completely negated all the shin protection of the boots. They were red and _canvas_ , which didn't even offer water resistance. She had said they were 'stylish', and Lea had agreed, and Riku had rolled his eyes from where he lurked in the next aisle over.

He wasn't _spying_ on them or anything! He just had to make sure Lea didn't do something weird to Kairi. Axel had kidnapped her, after all, and Riku had to make sure she stayed safe. If anything happened to her, it would be his fault, even if Lea was the cause of it. Not that he really thought Lea would do anything to her—he really did seem to have changed his song, and something in Riku was surprised that he was honestly proud of the older man for it. Waking up after diving into Sora's heart to see _Lea's_ face hovering over him alongside the king's had been a shock, to say the least.

That wasn't the point, though. He had to remain vigilant until he knew for certain that Lea had no intention of regressing back to his old ways. Kairi had been put in enough danger because of his own actions, and he wasn't going to allow _in_ action to put her at risk now.

Once the shoes had been taken care of, Kairi had eagerly ushered Lea into a trendy clothing store, explaining brightly that, as far as she could tell, orange was the new black. Riku had no idea what that meant, but he certainly hoped it wouldn't result in Lea wearing a full-length _orange_ coat instead. Thankfully, the fad only took them as far as a burnt orange baseball tee with dark blue accents and a pair of cropped khaki pants. Lea seemed uncertain about wearing what he called 'capris', whatever those were, worrying that they were for girls, but Kairi assured him that he pulled them off. He snorted a laugh then, something about getting arrested for indecent exposure in that case, and Riku had bristled fiercely before checking himself and ducking back down behind the clothing rack a few yards away.

By the time they were done, Lea had also procured a pair of stonewashed jeans, two sleeveless shirts, and a dark brown leather jacket that Kairi insisted was 'totally him'. It was strange, Riku thought, to see Lea acting... well, _normal_. He had smiled genuinely, laughed with abandon, and made comically animated gestures all through the shopping process, and if Riku hadn't known for a fact that Axel had spent ten years doing the Organization's dirty work, he never would have suspected that gabby, energetic Lea was anything but perhaps Kairi's dopey older brother.

"Lea, what are you doing?"

Riku snapped to attention when Kairi's voice rang out, tinged with disapproval. He glanced up over the top of the magazine he was pretending to read and watched as Kairi reached toward Lea as if to take something away from him. Lea in turn held his arm up over his head, a wallet clutched in his fingers. ... Had he stolen Kairi's wallet!?

"I told you I was paying for this," she insisted, standing on her tiptoes, but Lea was a good head and change taller than she was, and her reach came up far too short. "Come on, we had a deal!"

"This wasn't part of the deal," he said, still holding the wallet out of her reach. Wait, it was _his_ wallet? Lea frowned at her. "You bought me shoes—I'm not gonna let you buy me a whole wardrobe, that's just dumb. Do you even have a job?"

She tugged at the hem of her romper. "Well, no," she said, and Lea clicked his tongue.

"This junk's expensive," he said, and ignored the slightly offended look from the cashier. "The jacket alone is like almost six thousand. I'm not gonna let you drop this much munny on me, princess; got it memorized?"

She pressed her lips together and lowered her eyes, then made an indignant noise when Lea ruffled her hair fondly.

"If it's that important to you, you can buy me lunch," he snorted, and then lifted his chin, meeting Riku's eye directly as he added, "and maybe Riku, too, since he came all this way just to spy on us."

Riku made a startled noise in the back of his throat—how had he known he was even there?—then stared hard at the older man a moment before he just hefted a sigh and slowly moved toward the register. Kairi swatted at Lea, like she was disappointed he'd piped up, and Riku suddenly found himself wondering how long Lea had been waiting to call him out. Had he lost his stealth capabilities already?

"I wasn't eavesdropping," Riku said stiffly, and then immediately wanted to punch himself in the mouth. "Er... I mean, I was just... looking for a new jacket."

Lea paid for his clothes and turned to give Riku a thoroughly disenchanted look. "Wow, you're a _terrible_ liar," he snorted as he accepted his change and took the bag of clothes from the cashier.

"Come on, Riku, you've been following us since we _got_ to Twilight Town," Kairi said, rolling her eyes. "If you wanted to come with us all you had to do was say so."

Riku hunched his shoulders, glowering as he walked stiff-legged alongside them out of the clothing store and into the red-gold sunset that hung perpetually over the town. He wasn't sure what was more embarrassing: that he'd been been found out or that he was apparently so see-through.

"How did you know?" he asked, a little peeved, and Kairi blew a raspberry.

He gave her an almost betrayed look, and she arched her eyebrows. "I've known you since we were like five years old," she said: "I _know_ you. I knew you would never let me go off with Lea unsupervised."

"Exactly!" he said. "I have to watch out for you."

Lea harrumphed. "What'd you think I was gonna _do_?" he asked. "Even if I _wanted_ to kidnap her again, where would I take her?"

Riku chose to ignore the hint of bitterness in Lea's tone, and instead turned his attention fully to Kairi. "Well can you blame me?" he asked.

"Yes," Lea said, and Riku continued his selective ignorance.

Kairi reached over and took one of Riku's hands in her own, bringing a bloom of heat to Riku's face. She gave him a wise smile and swung their arms back and forth.

"I think you worry too much," she said, and then turned to look at Lea. "He knows that if he tries anything I'll just bite him again."

Lea gave a disgruntled sort of squawk. "Hey, _no_ , no biting," he said, shaking his head and holding his free arm up like he was surrendering. "I think I still have a mark from that, you know? You nearabout bit clean through my glove."

"Well, you deserved it," she said, and Lea had no rebuttal.

Riku just shook his head. "You two are ridiculous," he said, unable to hide the grin tugging at his lips. "Okay, I shouldn't have followed you; how about _I_ buy lunch?"

Lea shrugged one shoulder. "I could not be more ambivalent about which one of you wants to pay for my food, really," he admitted, and Riku snorted.

"You're out of munny after buying that dumb jacket, huh?"

Lea bristled. "It's not dumb!" he insisted, though he didn't confirm or deny lack of funding. "I have it on good authority that it is 'totally me'."

"That's like calling _you_ dumb," Riku said.

"Hey, that is definitely _not_ what I meant," Kairi insisted.

Riku hid a laugh behind one hand as Lea glared at him.

"Just for that, you don't get your present," he huffed, and Riku made a face.

"Present?" He shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"No, no, forget it," Lea said, making exaggerated swinging motions with his arms as he walked. "You lost your present privileges, you'll have to earn them back."

Riku just shook his head. Lea was probably just trying to get a favor out of him; nobody ever bought him stuff. Why would _Lea_ get him anything? That made no sense. He impulsively squeezed Kairi's hand, then pointed across the main road toward a row of buildings.

"That place looks kinda good," he said, indicating one in the center, and Lea paused long enough to shade his eyes and look.

"Oh," he said, and nodded. "Yeah, I've eaten there before. Good pizza. Better pasta."

Riku had forgotten that Axel had actually spent a lot of time here in Twilight Town—if he said this place was good it probably was. He met the older man's eye, brows lifted.

"Stamp of approval, then?" he asked, and Lea nodded.

"I would let you buy me lunch there, sure."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Don't get used to it," he said dryly. "This is... a reward for good behavior."

"Quit treating me like I'm a stray dog you're trying to train," Lea groused, and Kairi reached over with her free hand to take Lea's wrist.

"No more fighting," she said. "Let's just get some pizza and call today a successful day, okay?"

Lea chuckled, then gave Riku an inquisitive sort of look, a crooked and curious smile on his face. "Whaddaya say, sport?"

Riku glanced at Kairi, then at Lea, and then grinned a little despite himself. If nothing else, he felt like he knew Lea a little better after observing him in the store with Kairi. He couldn't say for sure how much of Lea's behavior had been sincere, though; had they really known he was there the whole time? Well, either way, Lea's current smile was an honest one—he was sure of that. He'd stood on the receiving end of enough of Axel's sly and sinister grins to be able to tell the difference. It would be a while before Riku would be able to really trust Lea completely, but maybe he could give him a little benefit of doubt.

"Sure," he said.

Success was relative, really, but even if the only results of the day were Lea having more appropriate sparring clothes and Kairi being happy about it, then yeah, it had been a successful day.


	5. Stars on Sleepless Nights

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Stars on Sleepless Nights**

 _In which Riku acquires a tenant._

ミ

As much as Lea loved the beach, it was easy to forget that he'd grown up on a world without any. In fact, Radiant Garden hadn't had _any_ major bodies of water within the walls. There were ponds that dotted the town and the big fountain court near the castle, but there were no significant lakes and certainly no sea. He'd never been allowed past the gates to see the water beyond them that lined the outer gardens, but even that horizon hadn't been as wide and unbroken as that of Destiny Islands or Twilight Town.

Maybe that was _why_ he'd grown so fond of the beach: the grass was always greener, and all. He had been taught to swim fairly young, but the first time he had seen an ocean he had been far more terrified than he had been willing to admit. Water that covered such a vast amount of space with no land to break it up was almost unfathomable to him, and even now it made him a little nervous sometimes. Fire had never frightened him, especially not now that he could bend it so easily to his will. Fire burned, no questions asked and no guesses to be made. Fire, despite its dangerous reputation, didn't lie or leave you wondering what would happen if you touched it.

It was water that left him a little uneasy; water that could slip so easily through your hands one moment and knock you off your feet the next, water that made up most of the body yet could strangle and drown the very creatures it was so vital to... Fire was straightforward and frank, but water was shifty, untrustworthy. Water was full of paradoxes, and Lea had never much liked things he couldn't figure out. Water made him nervous and kept him guessing.

So in the end, maybe _that_ was why he liked the beach so much: Lea of all people appreciated an opponent he couldn't read.

The sand was cool and soft beneath him as he lay on the darkened beach, listening to the tide as it lapped at the shore on its way out. The sun that beat down on Destiny Islands was far too much during the day; he preferred sunset and fallen night to the broader day, anyway. Lea had always burned easily in the sun, which was ironic, in his opinion, but even if that hadn't been the case, he would rather keep to the cloak of dark. It was easier to hide in shadow, after all, and when one had spent nearly half their life keeping out of sight, one tended to continue the habit. Oh, Lea enjoyed the company of others well enough—he was garrulous, friendly, and even polite most of the time—but he still defaulted to keeping to himself.

It seemed that wouldn't be the case tonight, though.

He turned his head when the soft sound of footsteps met his ears. Squinting in the darkness, he could vaguely make out the shape of the approaching figure: tall, but not as tall as him, broader though, with an even gait and heavy shoulders. So it was Riku. He cast his eyes back to the star-spotted sky overhead as the younger man sat down about a foot and a half away, one knee drawn up and something unsettled in his presence.

"I'm always surprised when I see familiar stars on other worlds," Lea said after a moment of not uncomfortable silence. He lifted one hand and pointed out a boxy pattern of stars, connecting them with his finger. "That constellation there," he said, "is Pegasus, like that guy's horse with wings, at the Coliseum."

Riku looked a little surprised, like he hadn't expected Lea to know anything about astronomy. He guessed it was kind of an odd thing for a person like him to have familiarity with. He had spent many nights in Radiant Garden laying on the roof of his house, just staring up at the sky, wondering if anything was staring back. He hadn't known other worlds existed until his own world had fallen, but he had wondered his whole life up til then.

Riku lifted a hand and pointed. "I know the North Star," he said, "but I don't really know any of the constellations." He rubbed the back of his neck, like this reflected poorly on him in comparison somehow. "I can navigate by the stars, though."

Lea whistled, low and impressed. "Like oldschool sailors?" he asked. "That's actually pretty cool. I dunno that I could do that." He had never tried, in any case. Didn't the stars move around as the worlds turned, too? How the hell were you supposed to keep track of the directions with compass points that didn't hold still? He decided he wasn't _going_ to try.

Casting Riku a glance, Lea pressed his lips together, trying to fight the urge to grin.

"Ain't it past your bedtime?" he asked, and Riku shot him a dirty look.

"See, we had this nice conversation going and then you had to ruin it," he complained, and Lea snorted, untying the scarf he had draped around his neck and twisting it between his hands.

"What, by being a smartass?" he asked. "You'd better get used to that if we're gonna be working together, sport."

Riku looked a little frustrated. "Well, you're still awake, too," he shot back, blustering a little. "Adults don't have bedtimes."

"Adults, right," he said, shaking his head. It was more a crack at himself, and how it was easy enough to pretend to be a grownup, but when push came to shove it wasn't what he wanted. Riku seemed to take the remark a little more personally, though, and made an exasperated noise.

"I don't need my students to babysit me," Riku said, and Lea snorted.

"Yeah, well, I just don't sleep anymore."

Wait, he hadn't meant to say that out loud. Lea held his breath a moment, then lowered his eyes from the stars. Riku just peered curiously at him before he sighed and also flopped backward into the sand.

"You too, huh?" he asked. Lea's eyebrows shot up and he turned his head to boggle at him.

"Wait, what?"

"Forget it," Riku said, shaking his head. "It's not important."

"Liar." Lea turned back to the sky. "You wouldn't'a brought it up if it wasn't important."

"You started it."

"Touché."

There was a long stretch of quiet, and then Riku made a soft noise.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked. "I mean, here on Destiny Islands. In the middle of the night." He glanced at him. "I mean I get the insomnia, but at least I never went to sulk on a whole other world."

"Who says I wasn't here the whole time?" Lea countered without looking at him, and Riku made a bit of a face.

"You never went home?" he asked. "You've been here all day?"

"I'm always here all day." Lea still didn't look at him. He wasn't interested in getting into the specifics of things, but he didn't really want Riku thinking he was crazy or something. He wasn't sure this would help his case, but at least he wouldn't think he was in the habit of worldhopping every time he couldn't sleep. "After we're done with practice or whatever at Yen Sid's place, I come back here with you and Kairi, we bicker and kick sand at each other, you guys go home, and I... don't."

"You don't go _home_?" Riku sounded flabbergasted.

Lea just shrugged one shoulder. "Hasn't been home in like ten years, anyway," he said noncommittally. Then he shook his head. "Forget it, it's not important."

"Lea you can't just be a beach hobo." Riku's tone belied the absurdity of what he was actually saying.

"Don't crush my dreams, I can be whatever I want," Lea replied, petulant.

Riku sat up and snatched the scarf from Lea's hands. "I'm serious," he said as Lea made a vain swipe for the scarf. "You can't just live on the beach."

"Give it back!" he demanded, and Riku just held the scarf up over his head.

"What if a storm hits?"

"This from the guy who was gonna take a raft to another world with nothing but fish and coconuts." Lea arched one eyebrow at him. "Yeah, Kairi told me about that."

"Traitor," Riku grumbled, his face heating up with embarrassment. He wrapped the pilfered scarf around his hand. "I'm still serious," he said. "We can get some pretty intense storms out here. You could really get hurt."

"I've already been zapped more times than I care to recall," Lea said, shaking his head. "Larxene was way worse than getting struck by actual lightning."

"I dunno about that," Riku said, and then got to his feet, offering Lea one hand. "Come on," he said, and Lea stared at the scarf around his hand with a frown.

"Is this a trap?" he asked, and Riku rolled his eyes.

"My parents' house is huge." He made a beckoning gesture with the fingers of his outstretched hand. "You can take one of the guest rooms. If you're not gonna go home, you should at least have a place to go instead." He shook his head, smiling a little. "You really can't be a beach hobo."

Lea frowned at Riku's hand, then looked up at the younger man with scrutiny. He trusted Riku to a certain extent, of course: he trusted him not to stab him in the back. Or the front, really. He basically trusted Riku to not kill one of his own students. But that was about as far as he would even attempt to throw this relationship just yet. The thing was, Riku was an infuriatingly trustworthy sort. He was the eternal Good Guy, and while it was a completely different sort of goodness than Sora's (who erred on the side of sweet enough to give you cavities), Riku just wasn't an unkind or spiteful person. Lea knew and accepted this. Even when he and Riku had stood on opposing sides, he had never thought the kid was _mean_. He looked out for his own, and fought fiercely to protect the people he had charged himself with keeping safe, but he wasn't mean.

Did he trust Riku to not be full of crap? No, no he didn't... but maybe he could trust him when he offered a roof over his head.

He reached up and accepted Riku's hand this time, instead of just brushing it aside, and allowed him to pull him to his feet. Dusting the sand off his backside, Lea gave Riku a suspicious look.

"You sure your folks won't mind?" he asked.

He shook his head. "Nah, they prolly won't even notice you're there," he admitted with a shrug. "They're really busy people."

Lea met Riku's eye and for just a moment, he wondered if Riku wasn't just as painfully lonesome as _he_ was. Well, that wasn't a discussion for tonight.

"All right then," he said. "Lead the way, _maestro_."

Riku blustered again, and Lea took the opportunity to make another grab for the scarf. Riku deftly spun away, still holding the scarf out of reach.

"Don't call me that," he said, and Lea shook his head.

"What, ' _maestro_ '?" he asked. "You know it means 'teacher', right?" Riku blinked, surprised, and Lea snapped the scarf out of his hands. "I'm not making fun of you," he said, holding the scarf out of Riku's reach and then tying it back around his neck. "You're teachin' me, right?"

Riku hunched his shoulders. "I didn't know that was what it meant," he said. "I thought you were just calling me 'Master' to get under my skin."

Lea chuckled, straightening the scarf and shoving Riku's shoulder with one hand. "If I wanted to get under your skin, you'd know it," he said. "I'm very good at it."

"Ugh." Riku shook his head hopelessly, then dusted the sand off his legs and waved a hand over his shoulder. "Come on, I've got a boat at the little pier," he said, and Lea tilted his head.

"Don't we need fish and some coconuts first?"

Riku turned and glowered at him, and Lea just grinned fetchingly to let him know that yes, this was him attempting to get under his skin.

"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"

Lea just laughed and fell into stride two paces behind Riku as they headed for the pier. Maybe he could learn to have confidence in Riku as a colleague, but it was going to take some time. Thankfully, that was something he had an abundance of at the moment. He wasn't sure Riku knowing how to navigate by the stars would do any good when it came to maneuvering through the choppy waters of trust, but it was better than having no compass at all.

* * *

thanks to everyone who's been reading thus far, and super extra thanks to those who have left reviews! it really means a lot to me when you take the time to drop a comment, i majorly appreciate it! :D still working on backlog for a while, thank you for bearing with me while i futz with the dumb formatting restrictions on this site.

~Kari


	6. Sand Angels

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Sand Angels**

 _In which a student proves to be a pretty good teacher._

ミ

Riku had waited until the clock read 7:00 before getting out of bed. He'd been up since just after six, but he knew it worried his parents when he was awake that early; something about teenagers needing way more sleep than he ever managed to get. By the time he'd leisurely gotten dressed and managed to tame his bedhead, it was about 7:30 and he could hear his mother moving around in the kitchen downstairs.

"Morning," he said, sidling into the kitchen and ducking behind the refrigerator door, hunting for some juice.

"Honey, why don't you ever sleep in on weekends?" his mother asked, frowning at him over her cup of coffee. Hanako was beautiful in a sharp way, with striking cheekbones and platinum blond hair. Even first thing in the morning she somehow looked like she belonged in a magazine, her hair pulled back in a bun and her sea-green eyes bright. Riku fought the urge to grimace at the pet name, though; he hated it when she called him that. It felt patronizing.

"Weekends shouldn't be an excuse to waste time," he hedged, retrieving a bottle of orange juice and a cup of what appeared to be paopu yogurt. "I've got a lot of work to do."

"I wish you would relax sometimes," she said, getting to her feet and taking Riku's cheek in one hand as she set her mug in the sink. She clicked her tongue as Riku kind of pulled away, focusing on his yogurt.

"You don't tell Aki to relax," he said sullenly, and she frowned at him.

"Your brother has a job, Riku," she said. "You're still young, and all you do day in and day out is train, though; it has to be exhausting. What is it you're _training_ for, anyway?"

Riku bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn't exactly tell his parents the truth about Xehanort, about the Keyblade, about his role in the safety of all the worlds. He _certainly_ hadn't said anything about Ansem's presence in his heart—that would just have them thinking he was insane. He had assured them that his previous extended absences had been retreats to hone his skills. He wasn't sure if he was pleased they'd bought it so easily, or just disappointed they weren't more suspicious. He usually decided on pleased, if only because his family worried about him so much all the time anyway that worrying them further was about the very last thing on his to-do list ever. It was like they didn't think he could take care of himself or something. Just because he caught cold easily didn't mean he was a helpless weakling—they would put him on lockdown if he ever told them the truth, even if he assured them he'd already been _doing_ this for several years.

"I just want to stay in shape," he said, shaking his head, not sure if he liked this yogurt or not and focusing more on trying to figure that out rather than his mother's words.

Hanako sighed softly, shaking her head. "Well, I'm glad you at least brought a friend over," she said, and Riku jumped.

"Wait, what?" He blinked at his mother. "Lea?" It had been late when they'd come back last night—how had she even known he was here?

Hanako canted her head. "Yes," she said, making a vague gesture over her head. "Tall boy, red hair—you did invite him to stay here for a while, yes?"

Riku stared. "Yeah, but..." He shook his head quickly, then rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry I didn't ask," he said. "We got in late last night. Did he wake you?"

"No, he was awake when I got up, but he was quiet," she said, rinsing the mug and placing it in the dishwasher. "He made pancakes, actually, and then left about ten minutes before you woke up."

Riku nearly dropped his yogurt. "He's not still sleeping?" Riku had thoroughly expected to have to drag Lea out of bed at noon or something. He knew the older man liked to nap, he had just supposed that meant he slept in, too. The idea that he was awake early enough to have made pancakes and already left was so shocking that Riku was quite literally speechless for a moment. "He's not still _here_?" he managed finally, and Hanako clicked her tongue again.

"Are you sure you don't need some more sleep, honey?" she asked. "I just said he already left. He said he was going to the island and to meet him there whenever." She closed the dishwasher with her foot and dried her hands. "Very polite fellow."

"Polite?" It seemed Riku was reduced to parroting. Lea, polite? To his _mother_? It seemed her really was full of surprises. "Sorry, I'm just a little startled; he kind of ran with a rough crowd for a while. I thought he'd have a harder time... adjusting to being around normal people again." Not that their lives were particularly _normal_ , but he wasn't about to get into specifics with his mother.

Shoveling the rest of the yogurt into his mouth and rinsing the cup out before tossing it into the recycling bin (Hanako insisted on the house being as green as possible), Riku swiped his thumb against the corner of his lip and downed his glass of orange juice.

"I'll be going, then," he said quickly, dashing past his mother.

"Take care," she called after him, moving toward the door behind him as he stepped into his shoes. "Will you be home for dinner?"

"I'll try," he said.

"All right." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, and Riku sort of flinched. Ugh, this felt so... juvenile somehow, but he couldn't really tell his _mother_ not to kiss him, that was so rude.

"Bye," he said softly, averting his eyes and tugging the door open, leaving his mother standing in the foyer with a dish towel in one hand and the other on her hip.

* * *

The morning was cool, dewy, too early for the afternoon sun to have burned the dampness of the shore away yet. It was always quiet this early, before the island really woke up, before the gulls started their rounds. Riku really loved this time of day, even if he wished sometimes that he could sleep in. He loved being awake before the rest of the world was, but there were days when he knew he would have benefited from a few more hours of sleep. Actually that was most days.

"Uh...?"

He glanced down when his steps fell unevenly, like something had disturbed the sand, and then made a face.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me."

They had made sand angels. For crying out loud, Lea and Kairi had made _sand angels._ Oh, he knew it had been them: Lea was taller than most, and who else would make sand angels with him? Selphie, maybe, but where there was Selphie there was almost always Kairi. It had probably been Kairi's idea, at that. Glancing back up, he could vaguely make out the shape of two people up the beach, and decided to see just what they were up to. His previous efforts at being stealthy hadn't gone so well, but this time he had the home turf advantage; he could take the path that went near the falls and hide behind the bushes without being seen.

Crouched behind a big hamanashi bush, he peered through the leaves, frowning a little. What the hell was Lea doing? He was standing behind Kairi with both hands on her shoulders, and she had her eyes closed. He had better not have been doing anything creepy, Riku would kill him. Cupping one hand by his ear, he listened.

"I don't think this is working, Lea," she said, shaking her head, and he reached around to put his hand over her eyes.

"Nope," he said, "keep your eyes closed. This'll work, I promise."

"You _promise_?" Kairi sounded dubious, and Lea straightened his shoulders.

"I don't make promises I can't keep, Princess," he said, putting his hand back on her shoulder and leaning forward so his head was above hers. "Now concentrate."

She was quiet for a moment, then shook her head again. "I still can't feel anything," she said sullenly, but didn't open her eyes this time. "I think I'm just gonna stink at this forever."

"Don't be such a pessimist, it's unbecoming," Lea scolded.

"It was easier when I could just be angry," she said, and he clicked his tongue.

"You'll never get the hang of it if you base it all in anger," he said, and Riku finally realized what they were doing. Magic, he was talking about _magic_! Was Lea seriously trying to tutor Kairi? Was he seriously this lucky, to actually have such good students?

Kairi made an exasperated noise and turned then, opening her eyes and frowning up at Lea.

"I just can't do it," she said, looking torn between anger and outright disappointment. "I've been _trying_ , but I just stink!"

"You don't stink," Lea said, fixing her with a stern look. "You've actually got a lot of power, you just don't have any control. That's why I said anger wasn't the way to go. How do you feel when you're angry? Out of control, right?"

"Kinda," she said, scratching her head and scuffing one bare foot in the sand. Riku absently noted that they were both barefoot, and wondered where their shoes were.

"So that ain't what you want," he said. He reached out then and poked her in the chest, over her heart. "Everybody says magic comes from the heart," he told her, shaking his head, "but that's nonsense. I couldn't do it at all until I _lost_ my heart. Heart's got nothin' to do with it." He lifted his hand and tapped the crown of her head then. "Magic's up here. It takes a little smarts and a lot'a mental stamina, and you gotta find the balance between a struck match and an explosion." He shook his head again. "That ain't easy. Not everybody can do it."

"So then why are you trying to help me?" she asked, her tone erring on the side of angry now, like she was upset that he was wasting his time. "I'm one of those people who can't do it."

"Not true," he said, wagging a finger and taking her shoulders to spin her back around. "Now would you stop whining and just do what I tell you to do?"

"You're not the boss of me," she said, but gave a long-suffering sigh and closed her eyes anyway. "All right, all right, I'll try one more time. Close my eyes, find a center."

"Right," he said. "Now imagine the spell you wanna do. Fire, for now, so I can play damage control."

"Not instilling me with great optimism here, Lea."

He mostly ignored this.

"Now imagine how _fire_ feels," he said. "Not just the part where it can burn you, you have to think of _all_ of fire. The way it moves, the way it flickers—everything, from the tops of the flames down to the embers left over when it's out. Think of a campfire, and how welcoming it is, or a lit lantern in the dark. How's'at make you feel?"

"It's... yeah, welcoming," she said, furrowing her brow. "Sometimes the boys and I would make a bonfire here on the beach and tell scary stories." She smiled wistfully, her eyes still closed. "I kind of miss those times."

"Let me guess: you were the best at the stories, and Sora and Riku were mostly just peeing themselves."

"Mostly just Sora," she laughed. "Riku likes scary stories."

"You don't say~"

Riku didn't like the way he said that. What was that even supposed to mean? She just _had_ said!

Lea released her shoulders and reached down to take her wrists, lifting them up in front of her.

"Open your hands," he said, "like you're holding a beach ball between 'em." She did. "Now think of that welcoming feeling, about the fire. You can't just be angry—fire ain't all rage and anger and hurt, you can't think of it that way or that's all you'll _do_ with it, is be angry and hurt people."

Riku shifted a little where he was still crouched in the bushes, frowning. Lea said that like the voice of experience, and he found himself wondering how _Lea_ had learned to use his fire so well. Who had been his teacher? Surely not Saïx, with whom he knew Lea had been closer than most of the other Organization members. All the other more senior members didn't seem any more tutelary than that, either... Had Lea just taught himself? Had it all been trial and error? That sounded really dangerous.

And really lonesome.

"Got the feeling?" he asked, jarring Riku out of his musing, and he looked back up in time to see Lea extend one of Kairi's arms out to her side. Kairi nodded with an affirmative noise, and Lea smiled. "Okay, then go with it," he said. "Gather it all up, and focus it into your hand. Then release it, like you're flicking water off your fingers."

Riku suddenly realized that Kairi's hand was aimed directly at the bush he was hiding in. He realized an instant too late, letting out a startled cry as a little ball of flame flew from Kairi's fingertips and landed less than six inches from the bush. Snapping to his feet, leaves and twigs in his hair and a look of alarm on his face, Riku just gawped at them in disbelief. He had almost been set on fire!

Kairi opened her eyes with a start and looked over as Riku emerged from the bush, and she couldn't seem to decide if she was surprised to see him or... _not_ surprised to see him. Lea, meanwhile, was just laughing.

"There, see?" he guffawed. "You don't stink, it just takes a little effort until you get the hang of it. If you'd just gone with the anger bit, you'd'a set Riku on fire!"

Riku bristled visibly. "Wait, you knew I was there?" _How did he do that?_

"I knew the second you stepped onto the beach, sport," Lea said, ruffling Kairi's hair and then folding his arms. "You're a hundred years too early to sneak up on me."

Kairi swatted at him. "Wait, you seriously knew he was there?" she gasped. "What if I _had_ set him on fire?"

"Then that would have been a valuable lesson for both of you."

"I can't believe you sometimes," she said, jogging over to Riku and reaching up to pull some of the twigs out of his hair as Lea just continued laughing. "Are you okay?" she asked, and Riku bit down on the corners of his mouth, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, and then shook his head. "You did really good," he said, nodding to where the sand had been scorched. "Fire's easy to lose control of, but you kept it small and contained."

"Yeah, well... it's a good thing Lea's actually not a bad teacher," she said, plucking another twig from his hair and tossing it aside. "I could have really hurt you."

"Oh, please." Lea came up behind her and clicked his tongue. "Like I'd have let you fry him. I'm not about to let anything happen to my own teacher, sheesh."

Riku inhaled to speak, then stopped, suddenly a little dumbfounded. "I didn't know you felt that way," he said bluntly, and Lea tilted his head.

"What, that you're my teacher?" he asked. "I told you that already. ' _Maestro_ ', remember?"

"No, that you wouldn't..." _Let anything happen to me?_ "Never mind, it's—"

"Not important," Lea finished for him, reaching out and plucking one stray twig from his hair, right at the top of his head where Kairi couldn't see it. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Riku could feel his face heating up with something amid embarrassment and just plain shame. It was a little abashing that Lea knew him this well after such a short time. Was he really so transparent, or was Lea just a lot more perceptive than he let on?

Lea ruffled Kairi's hair again, grinning. "See, though? What'd I tell ya? I don't make promises I can't keep." She glanced over her shoulder at him, and he postured a little. "Y'ain't the awful mage you think you are, Kairi; you just need a different teaching method than old man Merlin adopts."

"Ah!" Kairi gasped, bringing one hand to her face, and Riku jumped, startled. Had something happened? "That's the first time you ever called me by my name!" she said, and Lea frowned.

"What?" He shook his head. "No, that can't be right; I..."

" _Axel_ called me by my name," she said, looking all too pleased by this turn of events, "but you always called me Princess, since we started training together."

Lea scratched at his temple in thought, and Riku pondered this a moment too. No, she was right: he had used Kairi's name when speaking to _him_ , _about_ Kairi, but he'd always called her 'Princess' to her face, that he recalled. He guessed he hadn't really thought about it, but being called by your name instead of just a title was kind of important, right? He called Riku ' _maestro_ ' and 'sport', but he'd called him by name before those had been adopted. Kairi had always been 'Princess' to her face.

Kairi reached over and took one of Lea's hands, looking really happy about this. Lea just looked a little uncomfortable holding hands.

"I'm really glad," she said. "I don't mind a nickname, I know you like those, but it felt like you were calling me 'Princess' because you didn't think you were allowed to call me by my name."

"Wh—that isn't what it was, okay?" Lea insisted, glancing away, and Riku snorted a laugh.

That usually mean that was entirely what it was.

"Thank you," Kairi said, releasing Lea's hand then, "for helping me with magic. I hope you'll help me more in the future; you're... really good at it."

Riku hid his amusement behind one hand as Lea turned several shades of red and pulled at the back of his neck.

"Maybe you should start calling him 'senior'," he suggested, and Kairi looked like she was considering it. Lea just blustered.

"Hey, _no_ , do not call me that," he said stiffly, crossing both arms up over his head. "Denied, nope, no way sorbet, I will not answer to that so don't even go there."

Now Kairi was laughing too, and Lea just looked mortified. Riku took this as penance for embarrassing him all those times, and teasing him about the raft and coconuts. Lea just folded his arms and harrumphed.

"Fine, yuk it up," he said with a sniff, and then gave Riku a severe look. "Just for that, you bought yourself another week of present restriction."

Riku abruptly stopped laughing. He'd actually forgotten all about this supposed gift Lea had gotten for him while out shopping with Kairi the other day.

"Wait, you were serious?" he asked, and Lea rolled his eyes.

"Of course I'm serious," he said. "Keep this up and I'll make you wait until your birthday."

"You don't even know when that is," he countered, and Lea just grinned impishly.

"I could ask your _mom_ ," he said, and Riku made a noise in the back of his throat. Lea looked pleased with himself. "She happens to think I'm charming. And that I make excellent pancakes."

"She also thinks soap operas are riveting television."

Lea examined his fingernails. "And exactly none of this is going to get you your present any faster or keep your ma from having opinions that work in my favor."

Touché; he wasn't going to win this one.

"Ugh, you're impossible," he said, quickly shoving the idea of Lea being friends with his mother out of his mind. It was just too weird. He clapped his hands sharply then. "All right, enough goofing around," he said, and then pointed at each of them. "Keyblades out, now, I want to see your progress."

This was met with a dissenting chorus of _'aww!'_ from both parties.

"If you had time to make sand angels, you had time to practice," Riku said, and Lea snorted a laugh.

"You're just jealous you missed out on the fun, lazybones."

"I'm not lazy," Riku said. "Frankly I was expecting to have to drag you out of bed at noon."

"Surprise," Lea said, waving his fingers. Riku drew his own Keyblade then, as if it would be incentive for him to get serious, and Lea quickly backpedaled and lifted both hands. "Oh no," he said, "I'm calling foul if you're coming after me again."

"I won't attack you unarmed," Riku promised. This time.

"That's not really a compelling reason for me to be armed, now, is it?" Lea said, and Riku hefted a sigh.

"I really have the most impossible students," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. As Kairi drew Destiny's Embrace, though, and Lea fumbled only a moment or two before producing his Keyblade, Riku had to figure he could have done a lot worse.


	7. Mission Statements

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Mission Statements**

 _In which a wild plot appears._

ミ

"I bet this is Lea's fault. I know _I_ haven't done anything bad today."

Lea swatted at Kairi and she laughed, twisting out of the way. Well it only served to reason, in her opinion: why else would Master Yen Sid ask the three of them to come to his study atop the tower? Obviously someone was in trouble.

"Why do you guys always think I've done something wrong?" Lea complained, folding his arms as they climbed the steps. "Here I am, just trying to be a good student, and you just have no faith in me, Princess."

She knew that tone. He was joking, of course. Over the past few weeks of training, she'd gotten to know Lea quite a bit, and considered him a good friend now. He reminded her a lot of Riku, to be honest: he was biting and sarcastic when things didn't go the way he wanted them to, but was actually pretty soft and kindhearted. He just didn't want anyone to _know_ that.

" _Guys_ ," Riku said, rolling his eyes and reaching for the door as they crested the stairs. "I think if someone was in trouble, Master Yen Sid would have just called that person to his study. He's not the type to embarrass someone in front of everyone else."

Kairi supposed he had a point.

"Whaddaya think's up, then?" Lea asked, pulling at the back of his neck and looking a bit nervous.

"It doesn't matter what I think is up," Riku insisted, grasping the handle and giving the door a push. "Maybe we should stop guessing and just go find out."

Lea glanced at Kairi, making an exaggeratedly serious face—mocking Riku—and she hid a laugh behind one hand. She was pretty sure Riku just rolled his eyes before stepping into the office and giving Yen Sid a polite bow at the waist.

"Master Yen Sid, you called for us?" he said, and Kairi scrabbled into the room after him, leaving Lea to close the door behind them.

Kairi was still a little bit awed by the old wizard. With his intense eyes and stern features, he looked really intimidating. Riku had of course assured her that he was a kind man, and only had the worlds' best interests in mind, but she still thought he looked a little ominous. Maybe it was the hat.

"Riku, Kairi, Lea, thank you for coming," he said, moving away from the window where he'd been peering out into the expanse beyond the tower and taking a seat. Kairi straightened her back a bit where she stood and tried to look studious. "I am pleased with how your training has been going," Yen Sid said quietly, stroking his beard. "Despite a rocky beginning, the three of you seem to work well together, and that makes the entire undertaking easier, I must presume."

Riku nodded stoically.

"They don't always take things seriously," he said, giving Lea a pointed look, and then he turned his eyes back to Yen Sid, "but they're good students, I guess."

"You _guess_?" Lea echoed with an incredulous shake of his head, and Kairi laughed softly.

"Wielding a Keyblade is an art that can always be honed further," Yen Sid said. "Even those who are called masters can never truly master every facet of the Keyblade; it simply holds too many secrets for one lifetime."

"Of course, Master," Riku said, bowing his head, and Kairi just peered at him. Riku looked so serious in that moment, his eyes locked on Yen Sid and his shoulders thrown back. "I still have a lot to work on, myself."

"I have a project I would like the three of you to help me with," Yen Sid said after a brief pause. "You are aware that the train that connects this world to Twilight Town used to connect many other worlds as well, correct?"

"You showed me the routes it covered," Kairi said, intrigued, "in one of your old books. The tracks connected so many worlds, once."

"It was truly a remarkable mode of transport, long ago," the old wizard said with a sage nod. "It utilized the spaces between worlds in a much safer capacity than The Lanes Between or the Dark Corridors, and did not require the aerial combat skills necessary to pilot a Gummi Ship. The routes were efficient and straightforward: it is no wonder, then, that the Heartless sought to commandeer the tracks for their own uses."

"And that's why the train lines were shut down, right?" Lea asked, folding his arms over his chest and tilting his head a little. "If the Heartless got a hold of the routes, they'd have been everywhere in no time flat."

"Precisely," Yen Sid said. "Xehanort's reach is long already; if he were to ever have discovered this method of travel, he could have used the Heartless to consume many more worlds. Only one track remained open: that which connects my tower to Twilight Town, and even that was a calculated risk." He paused (perhaps for dramatic effect), and then regarded Riku. "However, now that the Heartless are under control and are no longer swarming worlds in droves, now that Xehanort has fallen back to regroup, it may perhaps behoove our efforts to utilize these train routes once more. If we are to maintain the peace and prevent Xehanort from tainting all the worlds with his plans for use of the Darkness, we will need a safe and fast means to access any world at a moment's notice."

"What d'you need us to do, Master Yen Sid?" Riku asked, his spine straight and his hands fisted at his sides.

"I wish for the three of you to use the train to access one of the worlds the lines once connected to," he said. "An old comrade of mine oversees the safety of the world, and will be able to tell you if the Heartless are still a threat. If he has deemed the world adequately safe from the Heartless, we may reopen the route to the world again and use the train to access it as we did once long ago. You will have to use the utmost discretion, as always when visiting other worlds, but I feel the three of you are up to the task."

Kairi's heart sped up, and she brought her hands to her face.

"Master Yen Sid, you want us to actually go to another world?" she asked.

"Yes, Kairi," he replied with a nod. "It is a world Riku has been to before, so you should have no trouble finding your way. When you are ready, the train will take you there; all you need do is make use of the access panel at the front of it. As more worlds are reconnected, they will appear as destination options for you."

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid," Riku said, bowing his head again; "we'll make sure to carry out this mission with the utmost discretion."

Kairi had barely heard anything past 'yes'. She was finally going to get to go to another world! In traveling with Riku before they'd been reunited with Sora, she'd seen a few other worlds, but their time had been so limited, and they'd been sort of on the run the whole time, that she'd been unable to actually _explore_ any of them. This was it: she was finally going to get to see another world! She would get to meet new people, try new food, see new places—just like Sora and Riku had during all that time she had been left back on Destiny Islands.

She'd been waiting for this for two years.

She didn't even realize she had followed Riku out into the hall until the click of the door and Lea's amused laughter jarred her from her thoughts.

"'Utmost discretion' huh?" Lea gave Riku a sly look. "That didn't sound like you at all."

Riku's gaze shifted uncomfortably. "Shut up," he said, and Lea snorted.

"Okay, use 'discretion' in a _different_ sentence, Shakespeare," he said, and Riku balked.

Kairi came to his rescue. She snapped both arms out and grabbed Riku's wrists, giving an eager little bounce.

"Riku, Riku this is so _exciting_!" she gasped, bouncing in place and squeezing his hands. The startled look on his face hardly registered. "I'm finally going to see new worlds! Just like you and Sora did!"

"K-Kairi, calm down," Riku stammered, looking at her hands around his for a moment before his cheeks flushed pink and he glanced away. "It isn't that big a deal; Yen Sid even said it was a world we've already explored—"

"A world _you've_ already explored," she corrected quickly, releasing his hands and turning to look at Lea then. "You've both done a lot of traveling between worlds, right? Well, I haven't, so this is really exciting for me! I can't wait—I've wanted to see other worlds since before I ever left Destiny Islands!"

"Right, on a raft," Lea snorted, hiding his amusement in one hand, "with some fish and coconuts."

Kairi kicked his shoe and then hurried to follow Riku down the stairs. Why was he being so stiff about this? Couldn't he even be a little bit happy for her? He of all people should have understood her position: he'd wanted to see new worlds, too, right? And he'd _gotten_ to. She hadn't yet, so of course she was elated.

"Riku, wait up," she called, jumping the last two steps and catching his wrist again before he could open the door to head out of the tower. "What's wrong? Aren't you even a little bit excited about this assignment? Master Yen Sid really must think we've made good progress if he's giving us missions on other worlds now."

"I'm glad," he said after an instant of hesitation, "that he thinks you two are ready for this. I guess I'm just a little worried."

"You're always worried," Lea said, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans and one eyebrow arched sharply. "I'd say you're gonna go grey before you're twenty, but you kind of already beat me to the punchline of that one."

"My hair isn't _grey_."

"Sadly the same can't be said for your sense of humor."

"His white hair is Sora's fault, anyway," Kairi snickered, and Riku just make a frustrated noise.

"Look, can we just focus on our assignment?" he asked tersely, tugging his hand free from Kairi's and giving the both of them a frown. "This isn't the time for joking around. Kairi, going to other worlds isn't a _game_ , okay? We have to be careful and not draw a lot of attention to ourselves. We can't meddle in too many things or it could mess stuff up for the progress of the world."

"Right, because you and Sora were both _so_ careful not to interfere with any of the worlds you visited," Lea said, rolling his eyes.

"We helped them for the better," Riku insisted. "If we hadn't, things would have been _worse_."

"Uh huh." Lea didn't look convinced.

Kairi took a deep breath and held it a moment, then exhaled. "I know it isn't a game, Riku," she said, though it was true she might have let her excitement get the better of her in the moment. Of course Riku was worried—Lea made a valid point: Riku _was_ always worried, especially when she was involved. He knew she lacked the experience both he and Lea had in traveling to other worlds, so of course he was going to be concerned for her safety in joining them. Kairi did know him that well, at least.

She gave him a soft smile.

"I'll be careful," she said, "I promise. I'll take the mission seriously, and follow your lead. You don't have to worry about me so much."

Riku's face colored again, and he shook his head. "Th-that isn't what this is about!" he said, in that way that meant it was at least 65% of what this was about.

"You and Lea will be with me," she said, her smile broadening then. "I'll be fine."

Lea reached out then and ruffled her hair with one hand. She made a noise of protest and swatted at him, and he caught her wrist easily in one long hand, holding it away so she couldn't hit him before he looked at Riku.

"She's got a point," he said. "Come on, Riku, relax a little, before you give yourself a stroke. You're not gonna let anything happen to her, and neither am I, got it memorized?"

Riku didn't look entirely sure about this, but Kairi could only smile. There was a warmth in her chest and a squeezing sensation behind her ribs at Lea's words. She knew Lea was a good person at heart, but he'd never actually volunteered to protect her this way before. Kairi didn't _want_ to have to be protected, but she knew Riku wouldn't be satisfied unless he thought she was safe. Lea's words might not have put all of his worries to rest, but they helped: she could see it in his posture.

Lea released her wrist, and Kairi folded her hands together in front of her.

"If Master Yen Sid thinks we're ready for this, then we must be," she said. "Unless you're planning to disagree with him...?"

Riku looked uncertain, then shook his head. "No way," he said. "I... I definitely think you two are ready for more than just sparring on the beach."

Kairi beamed, glancing up at Lea, who just cast his eyes to the ceiling and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. She walked past Riku and grabbed the door handle then, tugging it open and bounding down the stairs into the grass to head for the ledge where the train would appear.

"Then let's go!" she said eagerly. "I don't want to disappoint Master Yen Sid. Or you, Riku."

"I don't think you could ever disappoint me, Kairi," Riku said, almost too quietly for her to hear, and she turned back to look at him, her lips parted in surprise. Almost as soon as he'd said it, though Riku had blustered and waved her off. "Go, go, the sooner we get going the sooner we can complete the mission."

She reached for his hand again, and after a moment of fluster he gave it to her. Lea refused to pull his hand from his pocket, so she just looped her arm through his, and with that they headed toward the edge of the grass. As the shimmering teal tracks rose into view, Kairi could scarcely contain her glee. She was finally going to be of use to Riku and Sora—no more being left behind. This time she wasn't going to just be a spectator, she wasn't going to just sit idly by while Riku and everyone else suffered to keep her safe. This time she was going to help her friends protect other worlds.

This time, Kairi wasn't just going to be a princess, she was going to be a guardian too.


	8. Something Borrowed

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Something Borrowed.**

 _In which Riku receives a gift._

ミ

The train stopped near a village that bustled with people, and as soon as they arrived Lea recognized the world. He'd been here only twice, if he recalled, but both trips had been fairly pleasant, at least. (He was _so_ glad it hadn't turned out to be Atlantica.) The dirt road was lined with little shops, and rickshaws kicked up dust as they zoomed past—this had been Xigbar's haunt, more than Axel's, but it was a memorable place, to say the least.

"The Land of Dragons, huh?" he said, shoving his hands into his pockets and blowing out a low whistle as they paused near the edge of town. "So much for the utmost discretion."

"What d'you mean?" Riku asked, turning to look at him, and Lea reached over to tweak a lock of Riku's silver hair.

"You're about forty-five years too young to have hair this color here," he said, frowning a little at the way Riku actually flinched away from the benign contact, "and me and Kairi? Yeah, forget it; red hair doesn't happen on this world. We'll stick out like sore thumbs; I had'a wear my hood up the whole time I was here or else I got all kinds of weird looks."

"Our clothes kinda stand out, too," Kairi said with a frown, scuffing the toe of her sneaker into the dirt. "Everyone here is wearing like flowy dresses and robes and stuff, and cute little flat shoes."

"Think we can find a moogle to exchange some munny?" Lea asked, shading his eyes and suddenly a little envious of the people wearing triangular straw hats. The sun was really bright here. "Maybe we can spook just one shop owner instead of the whole town."

"I didn't actually visit the town when I was here," Riku admitted, suddenly looking a little self-conscious now that attention had been brought to his hair. "I went to the palace, and through the village up the mountain, but I didn't come to this part of the world."

"Me either," Lea said, quirking his mouth to one side. Then he shrugged one shoulder. "Well, it's your call, _maestro_ ," he said, and Riku instantly looked put on the spot. "You're leading this little expedition, right?"

Riku fidgeted, like he hadn't thought of this, and then squared his shoulders.

"Yeah," he said stiffly, shading his eyes and scanning the town before looking back at Lea and then at Kairi. He hefted a sigh. "I guess we should look for a moogle. Running around here in my Black Coat wasn't a big deal, because I was just sort of hiding in the shadows anyway, but if we're meeting with Master Yen Sid's friend, we're gonna have to go to the palace."

"The palace?" Kairi's eyes lit up. "A real palace?"

"Well when he said someone who watches over this world, who else could he mean but the emperor, right?" Riku said. "I met with him last time I was here, so I think I can get us in to meet with him again. I'm just a little worried about his guards stopping us because we look weird..."

Lea had only been half-listening to Riku as he continued. He was focused instead on a young woman who was very quickly walking toward them. She had shoulder-length jet-black hair and a surprised look on her face, and Lea wasn't sure if that was something worthy of alarm. Before he could really decide one way or the other, though, the woman had closed the distance between them.

"You three must know Sora," she said, hefting the bag of groceries in her arms and looking them over with a somewhat amused smile.

Lea scratched his head, unsure what to say to that, and Riku just gave a start.

"You know Sora?" he asked, and the woman nodded eagerly.

"Yes, he's a friend of mine," she said. "Oh, goodness, where are my manners? My name is Mulan. Fa Mulan." She bowed neatly, careful to hold the groceries tightly so they didn't spill, and then straightened. "Sora visited this world a few times, he was a big help to me and to the emperor."

"How did you know we knew him?" Kairi asked, blinking curiously, and Mulan just laughed softly.

"Because you three look about as out of place as he and his friends did," she said. "With his blue eyes and strange clothes, he really didn't blend in one bit."

"'Utmost discretion'," Lea coughed into one hand, and Riku just shot him a dirty look.

"Has something happened?" Mulan asked, giving Riku a worried frown. "We haven't seen any of the creatures that were attacking the villages in a while, though I hear you can still find them occasionally up on the mountain. Your being here doesn't mean they're going to be trouble again, does it?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Riku assured her. "We're actually here to meet with the emperor, if possible."

"We represent an old friend of his," Lea chimed in when Mulan looked a little uncertain. "We were sent to ascertain the stability of the world, in the hopes of reopening safe travel between it and others."

Riku looked simultaneously grateful for the use of official verbiage and horrified that Lea had just spilled their entire mission to someone who was basically a complete stranger. Well, if she knew Sora she already knew other worlds existed, right? So there was no harm. Sometimes discretion could be a hindrance, after all. Knowing when to spill beans and when to hold them was a very important skill Riku obviously hadn't mastered just yet: he seemed completely incapable of bean-spilling.

Mulan 'hmm'ed softly, then nodded.

"Yes, I think Shang should be able to arrange for you to meet with him," she said, and then made a clicking noise with her tongue. "Boy, it's a good thing I spotted you guys, though; the guards _never_ would have let you in looking like that right off the street."

Riku was making a very uncomfortable face as Mulan jerked her chin in a gesture beckoning them to follow her.

"Come with me," she said. "You can borrow some more appropriate clothes at my house, and then Shang can take you to meet with the emperor. I'm sure it won't be a problem, if it's got to do with the safety of the whole world."

Kairi jogged after Mulan, reaching both arms out toward her. "Can I help you carry that?" she asked cheerfully, and Mulan smiled brightly, removing a loaf of bread and a melon from the bag to lighten her load a bit.

Meanwhile, Riku was still making that horrid face, and Lea just gave him a strange look.

"You look like you ate something bitter," he said quietly, arching one eyebrow. "What's your problem?"

"Shang," he said quietly, a hand near his mouth as if to make sure Mulan didn't hear him. "My problem is Shang."

"Who's Shang, anyway?" Lea shook his head. "Is he important?" He must have been, if he could get them an audience with the emperor.

"He's the captain of the emperor's guard," Riku said, his voice still hushed, "but I don't want to meet with him."

"Why not?"

"Because I beat him totally senseless once."

Mulan and Kairi both turned around to give Lea a very puzzled look when he just burst out laughing right there in the middle of the street.

* * *

"I feel ridiculous," Lea complained, frowning at the robe and sort of plucking absently at the sleeves. "Do we really have to do this? It's like wearing a dress."

"You could totally pull off wearing a dress, Lea," Kairi said candidly, adjusting the fabric of her _hanfu_ where it was folded across her chest. "You've got better hips than _I_ do."

"Look, if we're gonna get in to see the emperor we have to make it look like it's a run of the mill meeting," Riku said, smoothing the sash around his hips and then running both hands through his hair. "If a bunch of weird-looking foreigners go in there, it'll start rumors, so we have to draw as little attention as possible."

"You three are gonna turn heads no matter what you wear," Mulan's grandmother said with a sharp laugh, waving one hand and then approaching Kairi to adjust the waist of her dress. "You have eyes like lightning and hair like fire and ice; if my ancestors could see you, they wouldn't know _what_ to say!" She held up one hand and added in a stage whisper, "And that's saying a _lot_ , for most of them."

Riku flushed a little at her dramatic words, pulling at the back of his neck.

"We really appreciate the hospitality, ma'am—"

"Oh, please, call me _a màh_ , like Mulan does," she said, making a dismissive gesture with one hand. "She tells me you three are friends of the boy who helped set her up with that cute military boyfriend of hers."

" _A màh_!" Mulan stepped into the room just in time to hear this, and gave her grandmother a mortified look. "Sora had nothing to do with me and Shang!"

"Well, either way any friend of the emperor's is a friend of the Fa family, right?" Granny Fa asked with a shrug. She turned to Lea and gave him a broad smile. "We're honored to help you while you're here."

"That's very generous of you," Lea said with genuine sincerity, though he felt a little awkward about it. He wasn't really _used_ to this kind of hospitality: even just crashing in one of Riku's spare rooms had been a little strange, but this? This was a whole new level of weird. Being invited into a stranger's home and given formal clothing to borrow... this was an entirely different culture he knew very little of, and part of him was honestly a little concerned about offending someone accidentally. Sheesh, was this what Riku felt like _all_ the time? "Thanks for letting us borrow some clothes, too," he added then, fidgeting a moment with his sleeves again; "I'm sure it'll make things easier."

"And don't you three look great in those clothes, too?" Granny Fa said enthusiastically, stepping forward and tightening Riku's sash a little, which only prompted some blustering, before she swatted Lea's hands away from his sleeves and straightened them. The clothes had almost been too _short_ for Lea; he was a good head and change taller than everyone but Mulan's father, and he had at least six inches on him, at that. Thankfully the robes were sort of designed to be one size fits all, so there was extra fabric that was usually folded up and tucked in for those with less altitude. "The emperor will be so impressed to have such well-dressed guests. I knew saving my son's old formalwear would be worth it!"

"About that..." Mulan scratched her jaw awkwardly. "Shang says the emperor won't be able to see you three today..."

Riku's face fell. "Why not?" he asked, sounding disappointed.

"He's in meetings all day," Mulan said. "There's been a bit of trouble along one of our borders, so he's speaking with several of his generals about nipping the problem in the bud."

"Sounds like a good reason to put off a less pressing sort of engagement," Lea admitted, but Riku looked a little distressed about this.

"So we'll have to wait 'til tomorrow?" Kairi asked.

Mulan nodded, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry," she said. "You should be able to see him tomorrow morning, but we can't interrupt him today." She ventured a thin smile. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Well, we can't just throw them _out_ after that," Granny Fa said, shooing Mulan out of the doorway. "The innkeeper's a crook, he'll charge foreigners an arm and a leg!" She tucked a stray lock of white hair behind her ear and then made a decisive gesture with one hand. "You three will stay with us tonight, and I won't take no for an answer."

And with that, she bustled out of the spare bedroom toward the kitchen, presumably to get to work on dinner. Lea met Mulan's eye and gave a short laugh.

"She's quite a character, your gran," he said and she sighed.

"She really is," she admitted. "She's right, though; the innkeeper will probably charge you extra, since you're obviously from out of town. It's probably best if you do stay here tonight. We only have one room to offer you, but..."

Lea waved a hand. "It's fine," he said. "We'll make it work. It'll just be nice to not have to worry about _camping_ or something."

Kairi looked a little disappointed about that. "I thought camping sounded fun," she admitted, and Mulan shook her head.

"Trust me," she said, "a bed is _way_ better than a sleeping bag." She smiled, taking Kairi's hands a moment. "Stay with us, won't you? And then Shang can take you to see the emperor in the morning. One evening's delay won't mess up the rest of your mission or anything, will it?"

Riku hesitated, then shook his head. "No," he said, "we have time." He bowed politely. "We... we humbly accept your invitation, Mulan. Thanks."

Mulan shook her head. "It's no trouble at all," she said, and then waved one hand. "I'm gonna go see if they need any help with dinner; Kairi, you wanna come with me?"

"I'd love to!" Kairi chirped, giving Riku an excited look before she hurried down the hall after Mulan.

Lea folded his arms and frowned at Riku.

"What is the matter with you?" he asked, shaking his head. "First the thing with Shang, and now you're being all constipated about accepting a little hospitality?"

"I am not _constipated_ ," Riku insisted, and Lea rolled his eyes.

"Well _thank you_ for clearing _that_ up."

Riku wrung his hands, looking kind of exasperated. "I just mean... I'm not trying to be all stiff about this," he said, gritting his teeth, and Lea folded his arms.

"So it comes naturally, then," he surmised.

Riku just glanced away. "Look, I'm just not used to people treating me this way," he said, and Lea made a face.

"What, _nicely_?"

" _Yes_."

Riku met his eyes at that, something desperate, pleading, and almost ashamed in them, and Lea was actually struck silent. Wait, was he serious? Lea understood, to a certain degree: the Organization hadn't exactly been Warm Fuzzies, Inc., after all, but as much as Lea didn't _expect_ hospitality from strangers, he didn't shy from it when it was offered. Riku always kind of seemed like he was preemptively bracing himself whenever someone offered him something, like he was waiting for the catch, or to be struck by the outstretched hand.

Riku smeared both hands down his face and sat down on the edge of the bed, threading and unthreading his fingers together in a way that looked almost painful.

"So I'm _sorry_ if I'm acting weird," he said a little snappishly, voice soft and eyes on the floor, "but I was hoping to get this done in a day for exactly this reason: I didn't _want_ to have to stay the night. Because I didn't want to impose on anybody."

"You do realize it's not imposing when you're openly invited, right?" Lea asked frowning. "It ain't like you twisted granny's arm."

"That isn't the point," he said.

"Then what is?"

Riku hefted a sigh, then shook his head. "Forget it," he said, "it's—"

"It _is_ important."

Riku's eyes met his again, absolutely flabbergasted this time, like the very idea was dumbfounding.

Lea pointedly sat down on the bed beside him giving him a stern look. "You keep saying your thoughts and feelings aren't important, but they're no less important than anybody else's; got it memorized? _Sheesh_ , what's it take to get you to accept that you're at least worth the space you take up?"

Riku shook his head. "I dunno—" he started to say, and Lea waved a hand dismissively.

" _Aa_ , stop," he interrupted, giving Riku a hopeless look. "That was a rhetorical question, lunkhead."

Riku glowered at the floor, then shook his head. "Why do you care, anyway?" he asked. "I'm not gonna mess up the mission, okay? So don't worry about that."

Lea tilted his head. Why? "I'm not worried about the mission, Riku. You really think I don't give two shakes of a moogle's puff about you, don't you." It wasn't even a question. Lea blew out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Man, talking with you wears me out," he said. "Don't you get tired, being worried about everything all the time?"

Riku hesitated, then made an exasperated sort of noise. "Look, just forget it," he said, getting to his feet and heading for the doorway. "We're staying here tonight, and I'm gonna... deal with that. That good enough for you?"

"No." Lea reached down for the little knapsack he'd brought with him, sweeping it up into his lap and rummaging through it a moment. "Here," he said, pulling something out of one of the pockets and tossing it toward Riku. Riku let out a short squawk of alarm and snapped both hands out to catch it, then frowned at the object in his hands.

"What's this?" he asked, shaking his head, and Lea set the bag back down.

"It's your present, stupid," he said. "You know, the one I got you like a month ago and kept pushing back when I was gonna give it to you 'cuz you have a penchant for being a moron?"

It was a bracelet, made of woven cord, with a shark's strung tooth on it. Riku boggled at it a moment, then gave Lea a baffled look.

"You don't have to wear it," he said, getting up and heading for the doorway. "Shark teeth are supposed to keep people safe, though."

"I know _that_ ," Riku said. "I grew up on an island, remember?"

"Well, I thought maybe you could use something like that."

"What?" Riku shook his head again. "Why?"

"Because you care more about everyone else than yourself." Was Riku really this dense? Surely he had to know himself that well, right? He leaned in the door a moment, frowning at him. "I don't expect you to tell me what's going on in that tangled up head of yours," Lea said, "but I _do_ expect you to at least acknowledge that however little you think of yourself, _I_ consider you my friend as well as my teacher. And Kairi, she thinks the world of you, you know?" He reached out and poked Riku in the forehead. "So if you won't think of yourself, at least think of the people who do, and stay safe or something, you idiot."

And with that, Lea turned and walked down the hallway, leaving Riku dumbfounded. It was less important what Riku's reasons for putting himself down all the time were—he knew Riku wasn't going to tell him his whole life story, and he was okay with that—but until he could understand that he _did_ matter, and he _was_ a valued member of this team, Lea was just going to keep _telling_ him. He'd spent far too long living for validation from others to watch Riku starve for it. He'd waited far too long for Saïx to give him a single 'good job' or 'well done' when he came home from a mission to let Riku think that his efforts went unnoticed.

He saw far too much of himself in Riku's behavior to just let him suffer the way he had. Lea didn't think he was a nice guy, really, but he knew all too well the pain of feeling all alone in the world to just leave Riku to stew in it.


	9. Cherry Blossoms and Insomnia

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Cherry Blossoms and Insomnia**

 _In which Riku is a terrible ninja._

ミ

Riku couldn't believe they were actually arguing about this.

"Look, I told you," he said, "I can sleep on the floor. It's really no big deal."

Lea crossed his arms in front of him in an X and shook his head.

"Bzzt, nope," he said. "I'm the oldest. You guys take the bed and I'll just crash on the floor over here."

"Shouldn't you be pulling rank for the _bed_ instead of the floor?" Riku asked, shaking his head. Lea really made no sense sometimes. "Kairi, back me up on this."

Kairi just shook her head, doing a little spin in the nightgown Mulan had loaned her. "You two can fight about it all you want," she said, flopping down on the bed and crossing her legs at the ankles. " _I'm_ taking the bed."

"And that's exactly why I'm _not_ ," Riku insisted, a little distressed. How was he supposed to share a bed with Kairi? That was absolutely not even fathomable! Didn't Lea realize what that _meant_? "It's completely inappropriate to share a bed with-with a student!"

That wasn't even close to the problem, but it sounded better than owning up to the fact that he'd had a crush on Kairi for years. He was pretty sure he would die or something if he shared a _bed_ with her! They weren't kids anymore.

"So it's _more_ appropriate for _me_ to share a bed with her?" Lea barked a laugh. "I'm like ten years older than she is!"

"That would be easier to believe if you acted like it," Riku said dryly. "How old _are_ you, anyway?"

"About as old as you look, what with your old-man hair," Lea retorted, and Riku bristled.

"Better than old-man bones," he shot back. "Won't you break a hip if you sleep on the floor?"

Kairi held one hand up. "Point to Riku."

"At least I'm not so old-fashioned I make a cultural _faux pas_ ," Lea said, rolling his eyes, and Kairi snapped her fingers.

"And point back to Lea."

"I'm _sorry_ I was raised to _not_ slurp my noodles," Riku insisted, tugging on the hem of his shirt uncomfortably. Really, he'd almost been too appalled to _speak_ when the suggestion had been made at the dinner table.

"It's a _compliment_ here," Lea said, waving one hand. "I thought you'd be all over that."

"You guys will argue about _anything_ , won't you? Why don't you just _both_ sleep on the floor?" Kairi suggested, sitting up and shaking her head hopelessly. "And I'll stretch out on the entire bed while you two continue acting like dummies."

Riku wasn't sure that was any better. The spare room in the Fa house wasn't very large, and he wasn't too keen on sharing immediate sleeping space with Lea, really. What if he sprawled all over him or something? He had no idea what Lea's sleeping patterns were like. Honestly, sleeping in the same _room_ was going to be a little weird, regardless of who was where. He'd done the sleepover thing with Sora and Kairi since they were little, but he was still getting to know Lea, and while he didn't _not_ trust him, he wasn't certain he trusted him enough to sleep in close proximity. Putting him up in the guest room was one thing, but having him sleeping five feet away just felt weird.

He wasn't worried about him doing anything weird to Kairi, at least-the two of them got along great. They had clicked in a way he just hadn't managed to connect with Lea yet, and... actually they ganged up on him sometimes. He guessed it was that troublemaker streak in both of them. Kairi might have been a Princess of Heart, but she was an incorrigible prankster. It really came as no surprise to him that she and Lea had that in common.

Apparently he'd been thoughtfully quiet for too long, because Lea just marched over to him and put his hands on his hips. Riku drew back with a frown, wondering what he was doing, and just made a face when Lea held one hand out, fingers closed in a fist.

"What?" he asked, and Lea gave him a serious look.

"Rock Paper Scissors," he said. "Best two out of three. Winner gets to pick where they sleep."

Well, that seemed no-nonsense and fair, even if it was a little juvenile.

"All right," he said, turning to face him fully and planting his fist against his palm. "I should warn you, though; I _always_ beat Sora at this."

"Good thing I'm not Sora," Lea said.

It was the first time in the history of ever that Riku lost all three rounds of Rock Paper Scissors. Lea had won after the second time, but Riku had insisted on going the full three rounds, just to see what happened. Lea won every single time, and Riku wasn't at all sure how to react to that. He wasn't used to _losing_. When he had thrown paper and Lea had thrown scissors on the third round, Riku had just _stared_ at Lea's hand like he didn't quite recognize it. How had this happened? He had been so sure he would win, like he _always_ won.

"Guess you and your old-man hair get the bed," Lea said with a grin, and Riku felt heat rise to his cheeks.

How was he going to do this? He hadn't planned for what to do if he _didn't win_.

"Come on, Riku, it'll be like old times," Kairi said, giving him a bright smile, her elbows propped on her knees and her chin in her hands. "Remember? You and me and Sora used to all pile on the floor of his room, 'cuz all three of us wouldn't _fit_ on the bed but nobody wanted to sleep alone."

Yes, his face was definitely pink now.

"R... right," he said stiffly, "like old times."

Kairi tossed an extra pillow toward Lea, who caught it in one hand and dropped it onto the floor. Then he promptly sprawled out with one knee drawn up and his hands threaded together behind his head.

"Here," Kairi said, pulling one of the blankets off the bed and tossing that toward him as well. "It's prolly gonna be cold on the floor, will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine," he said, but accepted the blanket anyway. "You two behave up there," he said, and it was all Riku could do to not make a sharp keening noise in rebuttal. This was exactly what he'd wanted to avoid: innuendo. The fact of the matter was, he _did_ have feelings for Kairi, and he had for a long time, and sharing sleeping space with her had grown increasingly difficult as he'd become aware of that fact. Suddenly the innocent slumber parties felt awkward and uncomfortable, and something in Riku had just wanted to _beg_ some higher power to take the feelings away so he could just go back to having a good time with his two best friends.

When the lights were turned out, Riku slid as far to the edge of the bed as he could manage without falling off, the sheet pulled up to his chin and his back coiled tightly. This felt so wrong, and he couldn't even figure out _why_. After about fifteen minutes, he heard Kairi's breathing even out and soften as she slipped into sleep, and he turned to glance at her in the shadows of the bedroom. A lock of her auburn hair had slipped out of place and fallen across her forehead, and Riku reached out as if to tuck it back where it belonged... and then he recoiled.

He wasn't supposed to have feelings for her. He was just supposed to _protect_ her, and feelings made that complicated. This had been so much easier back when they were young, when it hadn't mattered that she was pretty because he hadn't really known the difference. He was her teacher, and he was supposed to make sure she was safe at all times, and the strange squirmy feelings in his heart made that desire to keep her safe feel like cheating. Did he want to keep her safe so he could keep her all to himself? That was so selfish!

Riku rolled over and put his back to Kairi, one hand tucked beneath his head and his chest barely an inch from the edge of the mattress.

He didn't want these feelings. He didn't want to feel like their relationship was tainted with something weird like that. She was his best friend, and it was his job to keep her safe. That was _all_.

Right?

Right.

He wasn't going to get _any_ sleep tonight.

* * *

About two hours later, Riku hadn't slept a wink. He'd been staring at the little round window across the room, just listening to Kairi breathe, his spine rigid and his jaw clenched. This posture was really making his shoulders ache, but he couldn't bring himself to relax. His eyes flicked from the window to the floor, though, when he heard Lea move. There was a whisper of cloth as the blanket was left behind, and he heard the older man's footsteps pad quietly out of the room.

What was he up to? Riku didn't think Lea was the sort to go snooping through someone else's house in the dead of night, but the truth was he just wasn't sure. He couldn't allow that sort of behavior from one of his students, it would cast a poor light on Keyblade wielders everywhere! Sitting up, he threw the blanket aside and got to his feet, determined to make sure Lea wasn't doing anything unacceptable while they were guests of the Fa family.

He crept down the darkened hallway, past the other bedrooms, his feet bare and footsteps silent as he moved. He didn't see Lea in the main room of the house, though. Where had he gone? Had he stolen into someone's bedroom? No, he definitely didn't think Lea was that sort of person.

Noticing the sliding door that led into the backyard was slightly ajar, Riku moved toward the little veranda and quietly slid the door open to look outside. He was satisfied, at least, that Lea wasn't rifling through the family's china or something, but Riku felt he had to finish what he'd started. What Lea was doing outside in the middle of the night (and with no shoes or anything) was beyond him, but now he was just too curious to leave it alone.

Riku lingered in the doorway a moment, just peering out into the open yard. The moon was nearly full and shone silver through the flowering cherry trees, illuminating the whole area almost as brightly as the hour before sunrise. He and Lea had both opted to sleep in the clothes they'd been wearing when they arrived in town, rather than borrow pajamas from somebody, and now Lea stood in a gap between two trees, looking ridiculously out of place in the landscape. Riku squinted, then carefully slipped out into the night and closed the door behind him, moving silently across the grass and ducking behind a tree. He swatted at the flower petals that fell softly like snow from above, and then turned to peer carefully around the trunk. Riku watched as Lea took a deep breath and appeared to concentrate a moment before thrusting his arm out abruptly. His Keyblade appeared in his hand, in time with a big grin splitting his face.

"There you are," he said quietly. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it? 'Bout time you really started listening to me."

Riku wasn't sure if he was proud of Lea for practicing in his downtime, or crippled with secondhand embarrassment because Lea was _talking_ to his Keyblade.

He decided it was both.

Lea shifted and held the blade out in front of him, then turned sharply and brought it down in a wide arc. Riku just watched in awe. Was he really doing forms? He hadn't even been sure that Lea _remembered_ them, for all he goofed off during training. As he watched, his jaw slid more and more ajar as Lea moved flawlessly through each and every strike, twisting the blade in the moonlight with almost too-practiced precision. He had hit every mark-even his grip was correct! Riku just stood there with his mouth hanging open in shock.

That was when he sneezed. It snuck up on him almost too suddenly, and he barely had time to pinch his nose to stifle it. Ugh, these stupid cherry blossoms-they were _everywhere_. Had he made too much noise? Riku sniffed and rubbed his nose furiously, still watching as Lea broke stance and rolled his shoulders back. He rested the weapon against his shoulder then, turning, and Riku quickly ducked behind the tree again, pressing his back against it. Shoot, had he seen him?

"I know you're there, Riku."

Rats.

Riku hesitated, then sighed and stepped out into view, folding his arms defensively as Lea gave him a long-suffering look, one eyebrow arched and his hip popped almost impatiently.

"Couldn't sleep again, huh?"

"How long did you know I was there?" he asked, and Lea rolled his eyes.

"I told you," he said: "despite your old-man hair, you're a hundred years too early to sneak up on me." He waved a hand toward the house. "I knew as soon as you followed me outside."

Riku looked surprised. "And you did the forms anyway?"

"Yeah, well, you're the one who said I should be aware of my surroundings without letting them distract me," he said, pressing his lips together. " _Gesundheit_ , by the way."

Riku looked _more_ surprised. He _had_ said that, hadn't he? In one of their early lessons. He was so surprised, in fact, that he barely bothered to acknowledge that he had no idea what _Gesundheit_ even meant. He was still startled that Lea had remembered those sword forms correctly, but now he was _quoting_ him, too? This was too much. No _way_ Lea was actually this dedicated a student.

"Whaddaya look so thunderstruck for?" Lea asked, dismissing his Keyblade and folding his arms then. "You think I'm a slacker, I know you do; I pay a lot more attention than anybody thinks. I'm just a good actor."

"I noticed," Riku said, scrubbing at his nose with the heel of his hand. "Okay, I admit, I'm surprised. I _did_ think you were a slacker, but you've proven me wrong." He shook his head. "If you know them all, though, then how come I still beat you every time we spar?"

Lea looked sheepish then, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Knowing the forms when I'm by myself is one thing," he said, "but it's a little harder to get 'em right when there's somebody trying to smack me upside the head with their _own_ weapon." He shrugged one shoulder. "That's why I just keep practicing them when nobody's around: I keep hoping it'll just become muscle memory, like with my chakrams. I don't even have to think about it when I fight with them, you know? They're like an extension of my own arms."

Riku understood that very well: he'd been practicing with swords since he was very small. He and Sora had sparred with wooden ones nearly every day when they'd been kids together, so wielding the Keyblade hadn't been a difficult transition for him. He'd been frustrated with Lea a few times, when he had flubbed a block or missed an easy strike-he had thought that since Lea was a seasoned combatant, he should have had an easy time of it. He hadn't really taken into account that a blade was an entirely different sort of weapon than the ones Lea was used to.

He started to apologize, then turned away sharply and sneezed again instead, ducking his head. Three sneezes later, he saw Lea tilt his head in something like puzzled worry.

"Easy, sneezy," he said, frowning. "Boy, somebody's got a lot to say about you, don't they? You wanna go back inside? We can't really take you to the emperor if you've got a cold, you know."

"It's not a cold," Riku said stiffly, a little embarrassed as he sniffed again. "I've got pollen allergies. When all the plants on the beach are in bloom back home in the springtime it's really bad."

And here it came: Lea was going to make fun of him now, right? What kind of Keyblade Master was so easily felled by seasonal allergies, right?

When the laughter didn't come, though, Riku gave Lea an uncertain look.

"Huh," was all Lea said, and Riku made a face.

"What?" he said. "That's it? Not gonna laugh at me?" He _knew_ he was going to laugh, maybe he was just waiting for the right moment. If he called him out first, then maybe it wouldn't matter as much when the inevitable laughter at his expense came anyway.

"No, why would I laugh?" he asked, shaking his head. "Put me in a dusty old room and I do the same thing. I'm just kinda surprised."

"What? Why surprised?" This was not at all the reaction he'd been expecting.

Lea leaned against the nearest tree, crossing his ankles and rubbing his chin with one hand.

"You and Sora just seem kinda... invincible sometimes," he said, and that was perhaps the most surprising revelation of the evening. Him, invincible? He _wished_. Lea smiled faintly. "I mean you guys beat all the odds, you know? You've come out on top every time-you even beat Xehanort's Heartless when he took control of your body. So it's just kinda funny that you've got such a mundane weakness."

"You said you wouldn't laugh." Riku sniffed again, frowning.

"I'm not," Lea insisted, shaking his head. "I think I've just got a little clearer image of you now, is all."

"Clearer image?" What did that even mean? He wasn't out of focus.

"Never mind," Lea said, waving a hand. "I just feel like maybe I'm finally getting to know you." He pushed away from the tree and moved forward, passing Riku on his way back toward the house. "You keep stuff pretty close to the vest, so I have to pay attention or I might miss something."

Riku blustered before following him back toward the house. Pay attention? Since when did _anyone_ pay attention to him?

"I don't know what you're talking about," he insisted, jogging to catch up.

Lea just pulled the outside door open and lingered in the ingress a moment, his eyes catching the moonlight and almost seeming to reflect like a cat's.

"Of course not," he said with a grin, before ducking inside and waiting for Riku to follow. "Come on, it's late," he said. "I know you weren't sleeping; we're both gonna be zombies meeting the emperor tomorrow at this rate."

"I'll be fine," Riku said, waving one hand. "You should try and get some sleep, though."

Lea gave him a funny look. "You do know teenagers need like way more sleep than adults, right?" he asked. "So don't 'I'll be fine' me. What's eating you tonight?"

Rats again. Riku just couldn't seem to win with Lea. He had learned how to function on not much sleep, but he had a feeling it _showed_ when Lea was looking at him, and he wasn't sure how to handle it. Sometimes he felt like Lea could see right through him, and he had no contingencies for that.

"It's nothing," he said, and Lea snorted.

"Right." He paused in the hallway, their voices hushed in the quiet of the sleeping house. "Fine, you want the floor? You can take the floor."

Riku lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "What? You won Rock Paper Scissors fair and square, why are you giving in all of a sudden?"

"'Cuz I get it," he said, moving past him to head down the hallway. He turned to give Riku a knowing grin then. "It's weird trying to sleep next to somebody you like," he said, and then continued down the corridor.

Riku was sure he'd gone red from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. How did Lea know that? Had he been paying _that_ much attention? That was _impossible_ , he hadn't told _anyone_ how he felt about Kairi! The closest he'd ever gotten was challenging Sora to that race, saying that whoever won could share a paopu with her, and he'd known that Sora wouldn't make the connection. So how had Lea, who had known him for barely any time at all, figured it out so _easily_?

He wasn't sure how long he stood there by the door, completely flabbergasted and stunned into silence. Lea just kept surprising him, and he had a feeling it wasn't going to let up anytime soon. By the time he snapped out of his stupor and padded sheepishly back into the spare bedroom, Lea had relocated to the bed, leaving the spot on the floor vacant for Riku. He wasn't quite sure what to do with this unexpected generous streak Lea seemed to have... first the bracelet, now this? He had just thought Lea was a sassy know-it-all who liked to make a flashy entrance, he hadn't really counted on him being such a decent person.

When morning arrived and Mulan came to inform them that Shang would be waiting for them at the front gate in an hour, Kairi had been puzzled by the change in sleeping arrangements. Riku had balked, terrified for a moment that Lea would spill the beans, but Lea had just casually assured her that the floor had been too hard and hurt his back, so Riku had volunteered to switch with him. Why had he done that? No one had ever _lied_ for him before.

A little voice in the back of his head had whispered something about blackmail, but Riku didn't want to believe that. As Kairi swept up her _hanfu_ and hustled to the bathroom to change, Riku watched as Lea just put his pillow over his face and stayed in bed for a few extra minutes.

"Hey, um... thanks," he said softly, awkwardly, gathering up the clothes he'd been loaned and hesitating in the doorway. "For not saying anything. About... you know. About Kairi."

Lea just lifted an arm, giving Riku a thumbs up, his face still buried beneath the pillow, and Riku shook his head and smiled. He wasn't sure he would ever figure Lea out, but he was learning to like the challenge.


	10. An Imperial Affair

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: An Imperial Affair**

 _In which a mission is finally accomplished._

ミ

Kairi had never met an emperor before. Really, she'd never met anyone more important than the mayor of Destiny Islands (who didn't count, because he was her _dad_ ), except for King Mickey (whom she'd only ever met in passing, for that matter). She supposed Yen Sid was pretty important, actually, but he definitely wasn't a king or an emperor or anything. She was a little nervous about this meeting, and it probably showed, because Lea kept putting his fingers over her hands when she started fidgeting with them.

"Quit it," he chided quietly. "You don't have to be so worried. The emperor's a powerful guy, but he ain't really _scary_." He made a gesture with both hands, pantomiming a mustache. "His beard is like as long as Merlin's, you can't be afraid of that."

"Did you ever meet him?" Kairi asked, her eyes wide, and Lea pressed his lips together.

"Not face to face," he said. "I saw him once, but Xigbar was the one who spent more time on this world."

She crinkled her nose. "Which one was Xigbar?" she asked.

He gestured at one eye. "Eye patch, ponytail."

Her nose remained crinkled. "I didn't like him," she said, and Lea chuckled.

"Yeah, I don't really like him much either," he said, rolling his shoulders backward uncomfortably. "Was he a creep when you were in the castle?" he asked. "'Cuz he's already on my list of Jerks to Punch in the Face, so if there are infractions I need to add, to personalize his punch in the face, you need to let me know."

Kairi giggled, then shook her head. "No, he didn't do anything to me," she said. "He was just... creepy. And the one with the silver hair and the bad tan was creepy, too."

"That's Xemnas," he said, his lip curling. "He was in charge of the Organization. He's _definitely_ on the list."

"Is there a _reason_ you're giving Kairi a crash course in Who's Who in Organization XIII?" Riku asked, leaning over to chime in, and Lea pulled awkwardly at the back of his neck.

"Hey, she asked," he said; "it was relevant." He made a bit of a face then. "Actually now I'm kind of wondering what we _call_ Xemnas, to be honest. We all got our names back when we got our hearts back, but... 'Ansem' was never his name in the first place."

"I don't think that's really something we should worry about, Lea," Riku said, pinching the bridge of his nose in that way he did when someone was being a little too ridiculous.

"I'll go with Buttface for now," Lea said decisively. "It's a work in progress."

Kairi snorted a laugh, covering her mouth with one hand. "You could just call him Names. Like literally."

She could see the gears in Lea's head turning, and when the anagram clicked, he joined her in laughter. Riku swatted at both of them.

"Would you guys please be serious for a minute?" he asked, looking a little flustered. "We're about to meet with the most important person on this world; I don't want the two of you just giggling through the whole thing."

"I do not _giggle_ ," Lea insisted, unable to keep a straight face, and Riku just sighed heavily.

"Riku, relax a little," Kairi said, taking his arm. "I'm nervous too, but something tells me the emperor isn't going to bite, you know?"

"I'm not _nervous_ ," Riku insisted, and Kairi knew he was lying. Something was really bothering him about this meeting, but she couldn't determine what. Riku was serious by nature and stoic by default, but he'd been wringing his hands, his fingers closed in tight fists, and he usually only did that when he was very perturbed about something. "I just want this to go smoothly," he said. "I don't want to have to impose on the Fa family another night; I want this to be easy and over with."

Before she could ask what he was so worried would go _wrong_ , the gilded door to the emperor's chambers opened, and a tall, broad-shouldered man emerged. He was young, clean shaven, and as he looked each of them over, Kairi was certain Riku was going to faint dead away. The man's eyes narrowed a bit, and then he stepped fully out into the hall, letting the door close quietly behind him.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," he said. "I'm Li Shang, captain of the imperial army and a personal bodyguard to the emperor. We don't usually allow civilians audience with the emperor directly, but Mulan tells me you three are here on behalf of Yen Sid." He lifted his chin a little. "That isn't a name I know, but the emperor assured me it was important, so the exception is being made."

"We appreciate the leniency," Lea said, fidgeting a little in his borrowed clothes. "It's important we talk to the emperor about this directly."

Kairi's eyes flicked from Lea to Shang and then to Riku, who was avoiding eye contact with the captain at all costs. She glanced back at Lea again as Shang turned to open the door for them. He was so perceptive, she had noticed; she had known Riku for years and knew how he got around strangers, especially those with clout. Lea only had a couple months' experience with the way Riku acted, and yet he seemed to pick up on his particular quirks easily, speaking up when Riku found himself unable. It was really interesting to her—she tended to notice things before other people as well, and the idea that this perceptiveness of hers wasn't _strange_ was comforting. Sora and Riku were kind of oblivious when it came to little cues, she'd discovered, and so watching Lea hone in on those things the way she did was fascinating.

Lea nudged Riku with one elbow. "You're gonna make him suspicious if you keep avoiding eye contact," he said quietly, and Riku stiffened visibly.

"I do that with _everyone_ ," he said, and Lea frowned.

"One does not preclude the other," he said, and Riku just shook his head.

"What does that even mean, Webster?" he asked, sounding exasperated.

Lea folded his arms.

"It means you better make eye contact with the emperor when you're talking to him, because avoiding it is really suspicious, even if you do it to _everybody_ ," he said sternly. "Besides, it's rude."

There it was: she knew Lea made a good point, but saying something was _rude_ was the sticking point for Riku. He wasn't worried about looking suspicious so much as he concerned himself with propriety. Being rude to an emperor—more than that, a friend of Yen Sid's—was completely unacceptable in Riku's book. Kairi found herself surprised all over again that Lea had read that book so quickly, so easily.

Shang held the door open for them, and the trio stepped through the grand doorway and into the throne room. The room was enormous—Kairi was sure she could have fit like two of her whole house in here—with long golden carpets that led from one end of the room to the other. At the far side from the door, there was a staircase that went up about two-thirds of a story, and at the top was a huge, comfortable looking chair on a platform, flanked by heron statues. In the chair was a man, elderly and distinguished, with a long beard and mustache and dressed in a flowing yellow robe.

Kairi noted absently that his beard was not _quite_ as long as Merlin's.

Following Shang down the carpeted walkway, Kairi stole a furtive glance at Riku and Lea. Riku's jaw was set so tightly she could practically hear his teeth grinding, and he was walking stiff-legged, almost like he was trying to stand at attention while still moving forward. Lea, meanwhile, looked completely unfazed by all of the grandeur; the clothes he wore lacked pockets or she was confident that was where his hands would have been as he ambled casually behind Shang, his eyes scanning the huge room.

She felt somewhere between the two of them, and not just because she was walking in the middle. She wasn't quite so uptight as Riku was, because she knew that they weren't in trouble and they were here for a good reason, but she wasn't nearly so laid back as Lea was about this. After all, this was still _the emperor_ they were meeting, and that alone was cause for one's best behavior at the very least.

Shang took to a knee and lowered his head. "Your Excellency," he said, and then gestured behind him to the trio.

Kairi looked up at the emperor and then quickly bowed her head, unsure if she was supposed to kneel like Shang was. She stole a glance at Riku, who had also bowed his head, his arms tight against his sides, and decided that bowing was probably okay. Even eternally irreverent Lea had dipped his head.

"So you three are the ambassadors from my old friend Yen Sid," the emperor said, getting to his feet. Slowly making his way down the stairs, he regarded each of them for a long moment. "What is the news you bear?"

Riku cleared his throat awkwardly, then straightened where he stood, shoulders thrown back and chin lifted a little.

"Ah... sir, we've come to ask about the safety of this world," he said stiffly.

"Is that safety in jeopardy?" the emperor asked, and Riku fidgeted.

"No, sir," he said, and then shook his head. "I mean... I don't know. Master Yen Sid asked us to come here to make sure the world was secure."

Lea held up one hand, like he was asking permission to interject, and then gave Riku a sidelong glance.

"Yen Sid wants to open up a safe path between the world where he lives, and this one," Lea said, turning his gaze back to the emperor, "but we can't do that if it could possibly be compromised. We're just here to make sure the Heartless are under control and that you feel comfortable connecting this world with others again."

"I see," the emperor said, and Riku deflated a little, though Kairi wasn't sure if it was in relief or embarrassment. Knowing Riku, it was probably a little of both. The emperor tilted his head a little, then tugged briefly at his beard. "And just who are you three, anyway?"

Riku straightened again, looking a little more serious again now. "I'm Master Riku," he said, and then gestured beside him. "These are my students, Kairi, and Lea."

"If Yen Sid has sent a Keyblade Master on this errand, then it must be very important indeed," the emperor said, standing in front of Kairi now, only two steps above them. "I have only heard of a few straggling Heartless being seen on the summit of the mountain," he said, "but those accounts are not recent. Since Sora sealed the heart of this world, however, the Heartless have caused us no trouble here."

"That's wonderful news," Kairi said, and then clapped both hands over her mouth. Wait, was she even allowed to talk? ... Wait, of course she was allowed to talk— _Lea_ had talked! Oh, why hadn't she said something _useful_ instead?

"Do not censor your happiness, child," the emperor said kindly. "It _is_ wonderful news, that this world is no longer plagued by the perils of the Heartless. Thanks to your colleague Sora, this world has been safe for quite some time now."

Kairi nodded. "Sora's pretty great, huh?" she asked, a little shyly, and the emperor smiled.

"It is a great service he has done to the worlds," he said, "and a service I trust the three of you will continue to uphold, as a master and students of the Keyblade."

Kairi straightened her spine a little. "O-of course, sir," she said, doing her best to look serious. "We'll do our best!"

The emperor turned to Riku then, nodding slowly. "I will allow this world to be connected," he said, "so long as those who would travel between it remember that discretion is paramount until such time as all worlds can be reconnected and their people joined once more."

"Yes, Your Excellency," Riku said with a nod, and Kairi noted that he seemed to have taken Lea's advice to heart: he held the emperor's eye for a moment, then bowed his head again. "Thank you. I'm sure Yen Sid will be very pleased to hear your decision."

"Do give him my regards," the emperor said, and then started to climb the stairs back to his throne.

Riku cast a furtive glance at Shang, then turned quickly to head for the doorway that led back to the corridor. He seemed very eager to get out of that room, and Kairi wasn't quite sure why, but she followed him, and glanced over her shoulder to make sure Lea followed _her_.

"Oh, and... Master Riku?"

Riku paused in his steps when the emperor called his name, and he turned to look back at him. Kairi and Lea turned as well, and the emperor gave Riku a knowing look.

"I appreciate your not beating anyone up this time," was all he said, and Riku looked instantly mortified, his face turning several shades of scarlet. He hunched his shoulders and swiftly fled the throne room, shoving through the doors that led to the hallway beyond.

Kairi heard Lea start laughing with abandon, but she didn't understand. Who had Riku beaten up?

"Riku? Riku, what's he talking about?" she asked, following him into the corridor. "Riku, what happened the last time you were _here_?"

Riku just covered his face with one hand and shook his head as Lea pulled the door closed behind him, laughing so hard he doubled forward and leaned against the wall.

"Forget it, let's just get back to the train," Riku said, "before Captain Shang puts two and two together."

Kairi had a feeling that this was a story that came with a lot of explanation.


	11. Pockets

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Pockets**

 _In which we'll always have Paris._

ミ

"So we're _not_ going to see the king?" Kairi tucked her hair behind her ear, a little confused. "Shouldn't the king be the leader of the world, though?"

"You'd think," Lea said, leaning back against the seat of the train and folding his arms over his chest.

Riku just shook his head. "There's apparently a King Louis XI on the throne of France right now," he said, "but Yen Sid says he doesn't actually know about the existence of other worlds."

Kairi wriggled in her seat. "I can't believe we're going to _Paris_ ," she said. "It sounds so glamorous, you know?" She had gone through a few of Yen Sid's books, just reading about some of the worlds she might get to visit, and Paris had sounded so romantic! She turned to Lea then. "Have you been?"

Lea shook his head. "Nope, never made it to Paris," he said. "Hear the food's to die for, though."

"Well, I'd prefer we don't do any dying while we're on our mission," Riku said, moving to the front of the train car as it began to slow. "We'll be dropped off near the edge of the city," he said, "and we're headed to the cathedral, near the center. I'm sure it won't be hard to find our way."

"You've been here, right, Riku?" Kairi asked. "You said you had met with a Romani woman named Esmeralda in Paris."

"Oho, hanging around with gypsies? You delinquent," Lea snorted, and Riku gave him a stern glower.

"The word is _Romani_ ," he said sharply. "Don't call them gypsies, that's a really rude word."

"The term you're looking for is _pejorative_ ," Lea said facetiously, and Riku scowled.

"Whatever it is, they're the Romani people and they deserve respect like anybody else."

"Is it so bad?" Kairi asked, shaking her head. "I'd never even heard the word until you mentioned Esmeralda."

"I didn't know what the Romani were either, until Esmeralda," Riku said, clenching one hand into a fist, "but she told me her people were hunted down just for being who they are. So I read about them some, the last time I visited Beast's Castle."

"That's another world set in the same place at a different time, right?" Kairi had lost track of all the worlds Sora and Riku had been to, but it was interesting to her that some of them overlapped locations.

"The castle isn't in _Paris_ , but it's still in France, which is the larger area Paris is part of," Riku said, his words a little halting like he wasn't entirely sure of what he was saying. "It's a different timeline, but they have common history, um..." He shook his head. "I don't really understand it all, Yen Sid could probably explain it better. Anyway, 'gypsy' just isn't a nice word, okay? Don't use it."

He seemed really adamant about this, and Kairi nodded. "Okay, I won't."

"Just keep your wallet in your front pocket," Lea said through clenched teeth.

"I _wish_ these shorts had pockets," she complained, frowning at him. "Why don't girl clothes have decent pockets?"

"Search me," he said, lacing his fingers together behind his head. "I don't design 'em."

"Have you met a Romani before?" Kairi asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Not personally," he said, scratching his cheek, "but I've read enough to know they make a living swindling other people."

"You can't believe _everything_ you read," Kairi said, and Lea didn't look convinced. Kairi nudged his shoe with her foot. "Be nice," she scolded; "you know how important this is."

 _Especially to Riku,_ her eyes concluded sternly, silently.

Lea pulled at the back of his neck. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

"We're almost there," Riku said, giving Lea a chastising look before sitting back down across the aisle of the train. "Let's hope this mission goes a little more smoothly than the last one, okay?"

"Unless you beat up a bunch of people here, too, we should be fine," Lea said, and Riku just rolled his eyes at him.

The train pulled up on the outskirts of a busy looking city with grand architecture and hurried streets. As the tracks shimmered away, Lea shoved his hands into his pockets and cast his eyes around the buildings nearby.

"So we're headed to a cathedral?" he asked, giving Riku a curious look.

"Yeah," he said. "Notre Dame Cathedral; it's one of the most famous structures in Paris. We should be able to see it up ahead."

"I don't think I've ever seen a cathedral before," Kairi said. "Who is it we're supposed to be talking to, if not the king?"

"The archdeacon," Riku replied, and Lea arched one eyebrow.

"The heck's an archdeacon?" he asked, and Kairi had to admit she was a bit curious as well.

"A high member of the cleric," Riku said, lifting his hands to shoulder and head height as if to demonstrate the various levels. "He works for the diocese and answers directly to the bishop."

There was a beat of silence and then Lea waved one hand. "Yeah, I have no idea what that means," he said, and Kairi laughed.

"Riku knows a lot about the church," she said by way of explanation. "His father is friends with the local minister, right?"

Riku nodded, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. "Yeah, they kept pushing me to be in the church choir," he said, looking a little uncomfortable.

"And that's why he knows every Christmas song ever," she concluded, and Lea snorted a laugh.

"You're making it sound like I'm the only one who sings around here," Riku said, grinning sidelong at her. "I couldn't even _hear_ Selphie last Christmas, you were singing so loud."

She looked a little embarrassed, fidgeting with the hem of her shorts. "Well, they needed an alto," she hedged. She _liked_ to sing! There was nothing wrong with singing loud, right?

"Kairi, you had a sore throat for two days after that," Riku chuckled, and Kairi puffed her cheeks out a little.

"You two will have to put on a concert sometime," Lea snorted, shaking his head.

"Not likely," Riku said, and Kairi laughed.

"What's your favorite Christmas carol, Lea?" she asked, and Lea shook his head.

"I actually dunno any," he admitted.

"None?"

"We didn't celebrate Christmas where I grew up," he explained. "We had a winter festival called Yule, but none'a this Sandy Claws stuff I learned about in Christmastown."

Kairi looked a little sad. Christmas was probably her favorite holiday, she really loved everything about it. She loved the smell of apple cider and cinnamon, the warmth of fireplaces and friends gathered around a decorated tree. It never got cold enough to _snow_ on the Destiny Islands, but she'd heard about Christmastown from Riku, and the way the rain fell soft and white like powder from above. She wanted to see snow so badly. Had Lea really grown up without Christmas?

Lea folded his arms and harrumphed at the look on her face.

"You don't have to make a face like that," he said. "We had cool festivals too, okay? Solstice and Yule and Summerfinding... It's not like I had some sad boring childhood."

"I have a hard time imagining anything about you being sad or boring, to be honest," Riku snickered.

They rounded a corner, and Kairi's eyes widened in awe. In the distance, over the steep gabled rooftops of the shops and houses in the square, the towers of the great cathedral rose away from the earth, dwarfing everything around them. The sun glinted off the massive rose window in the center and reflected fiery white, catching the angles of the bell towers and casting sharp shadows across the town beyond the massive structure. Kairi actually paused in her steps to stare, her jaw sliding ajar. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her entire life. There was a little church in the square on the islands, with a round stained glass window and a decorative steeple, but she was sure ten of them would have fit inside the great cathedral.

"Wow," she breathed, and Riku stepped up beside her.

"Pretty impressive, isn't it?" he asked.

Lea let out a low whistle. "I'll say," he said, hands in his pockets again. "I had no idea how massive it was."

"That's where we're going?" Kairi asked.

Riku nodded. "Yeah," he said. "The archdeacon is a busy person, but I'm sure he'll make time to talk about this."

"Funny the way busy people make time when the fate of the world is at stake, huh?" Lea quipped, and then made an _oof_ noise when someone bumped into him roughly.

Kairi caught his arm. "Are you okay?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder to try and see who'd hit him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, dusting himself off and tossing a dirty look toward the faceless figure that moved away from him. "This place is really hopping today; there's people _everywhere_."

"It's a big world," Riku said, "and a lot more densely populated than the last one." He glanced at Lea and then gave Kairi a stern look. "Stay on your guard," he said. "Things should be pretty peaceful, but don't get careless."

"Sir, yes sir," she said, saluting him playfully. Really, Riku always seemed to take things a little too seriously. What did he expect was going to happen?

" _Aa_!" Lea let out a sudden squawk of alarm, and Kairi turned to frown at him worriedly.

"What?" she and Riku asked in tandem, and Lea slapped his palms against the pockets at his hips.

"Whoever bumped into me stole my damn _wallet_!" he said shrilly. "Are you freaking _kidding_ me—I was being _careful_ , too!"

"Seriously?" Riku asked, looking baffled. "You got your pocket picked?"

Kairi was torn between being upset that Lea had lost his wallet and amused at the irony of it, considering he'd been warning her about just that.

"Dammit, now I have to go get it back," he said with a snarl, and turned to head off in the direction the crowd was moving.

"Lea— _wait_ , we shouldn't get separated!" Riku shouted, reaching out to grab for his arm, and Lea deftly evaded his grasp.

"No way I'm just giving up my munny without a fight," he said.

"It's no big deal, Lea, it's just _munny_ —"

"It's fine, I'll meet you guys back at the cathedral at dusk," he said. "Cross my heart!"

"Lea, no, _wait_ a seco— Ugh." Riku palmed his face as Lea disappeared into the bustling crowd, and then looked down at Kairi. "He's never going to listen to me, is he?"

"I wouldn't bet on it."

"Well, I guess it's just you and me, then."

"Should we still go to the cathedral?" she asked, blinking curiously. "I don't think we should talk to the archdeacon _without_ him..."

Riku shook his head. "No, I think he should be there too," he said; "it's important for you guys to see how relations between worlds work. The only experience he really has with inter-world stuff was with the Organization."

"Not exactly fine upstanding behavior," she giggled, and Riku grinned.

"Not at all," he agreed.

"Well, what do we do 'til he gets back?" she asked, figuring he would find _something_ constructive for them to do. It wasn't that Riku wasn't a fun person to be around, but he wasn't very good at wasting time.

"Wanna check out the market?" he asked, and Kairi did a doubletake.

"Wait, what?" she asked. "Are you being serious?"

"Yes, I'm being serious," he said, giving her a strange look. "If we can't get our mission done until sunset, we might as well take in some sights, right?"

Who was this person and what had they done with Riku?

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked, reaching up to touch his forehead, and he laughed, catching her wrist and pulling her hand down.

"Kairi, I'm fine," he said.

"You were just so uptight on the previous mission," she said, a little bewildered.

Riku looked a little shamefaced. "I felt like I was really out of my element there," he said honestly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd only ever been there when I was shadowing the Organization— _Sora's_ the hero of that world, you know?"

Understanding bloomed in her eyes and she nodded. "But you came here and helped the people of this world during your exam," she said, rationalizing it. That made sense; he felt more welcome here, like less of an imposition. She had to figure that _not_ having to spend the night at someone's house didn't hurt, either. Riku seemed to gauge his worth based on how much he had done for the people in his immediate vicinity, and for some reason he never seemed to think it was _enough_.

"The people of this world helped me, too," he said, a wistful sort of smile on his face.

Kairi studied his expression a moment, wishing she knew what he was thinking. Sometimes it was easy to tell, and other times she couldn't quite read him. Smiles were rare on his face, though, so even if she couldn't tell what was on his mind, she would take the smile for what it was. "I think I like this Riku better than the one from the last mission," she said with a grin. "I figured you'd be sentencing me to training with the city guard until Lea got back."

Riku folded his arms and gave her a very stern look. "Well do you _want_ to do training exercises with the city guard?" he asked. "I'm sure if we asked they would do it."

She shook her head quickly.

"Heck no, I wanna go shopping!" she said, her arms tight against her sides. Then she pointed across the walkway. "Look at those beautiful scarves over there. And there, those hats are so cute! Riku, is it really okay?" Her eyes were wide and hopeful. It was all right to do a _little_ sightseeing on a mission, right? She had waited so long to get to visit other worlds!

He lifted his chin in something like permission, and Kairi let out a little squeak of delight. Grabbing Riku's hands, she turned to pull him toward the nearest line of sales carts—

" _Oomf_!"

—and promptly crashed into someone.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she gasped, looking up into the face of a beautiful woman with dark hair and startling green eyes. "Are you okay? I wasn't watching where I was going."

"I'm fine, little one," the woman said, smiling. "Did you hurt yourse— Well I'll be. Riku, is that you?"

The woman's eyes flicked past Kairi, and she glanced at him to gauge his reaction. Did he know this woman? When his face lit up with recognition, she stepped aside to let him approach her.

"Esmeralda, I wasn't sure we would run into you!" he said, and Kairi brought both hands to her face.

So this was Esmeralda? She was more beautiful than she'd even imagined, wearing flowing layers of skirts with bells and tassels on them, her mane of jet black hair held back with a silken scarf.

"It's been a while, are you well?" she asked, taking Riku's hands and then turning her eyes back to Kairi. "And who's this lovely lady? She wasn't with you last time."

"This is Kairi, one of my closest friends," he said, and Kairi blushed a little as Riku gestured between them. "Kairi, meet Esmeralda. She was a big help to me when I was last here."

"Oh, nonsense," Esmeralda said, shaking her head. "Riku's the hero in this group."

"I couldn't agree more," Kairi said brightly, and then laughed as Riku's face turned pink at the compliment.

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Kairi," Esmeralda said. "Any friend of Riku's is a friend of mine."

"L-likewise!" Kairi said, bowing stiffly and then giving Esmeralda a big smile. "Thank you for helping him when he was here!"

"Can we change the subject now?" Riku asked, looking a little embarrassed.

"What brings you to Paris?" Esmeralda asked, carefully leading the way through the crowd to a sheltered area beside one of the carts so they could speak without blocking the foot traffic.

"We need to speak with the archdeacon," Kairi said, and Esmeralda nodded.

"Are you headed to the cathedral, then?"

"Not just yet," Riku said; "we lost one of our party members."

Esmeralda frowned, her brow furrowed. "Did something happen?"

"He got his pocket picked and went to get his wallet back," Kairi said, rolling her eyes, and Esmeralda pursed her lips.

"Oh, no, that sounds like Luca," she said. "He's a lousy salesman, and he's not even very good at cards, so he usually makes ends meet by stealing." She shook her head hopelessly. "He's really not helping our image. You two don't dress like most people in the square, he probably took you for being from out of town and figured it'd be an easy meal ticket."

"Is he dangerous?" Riku asked, suddenly looking a little concerned, but Esmeralda shook her head.

"No, he's harmless," she assured him, "but your friend might have a hard time catching him. He's pretty good at disappearing."

"So is Lea," Kairi said, and Riku just nodded in agreement.

"He'll probably be fine," Riku said, waving one hand. "So long as this Luca character isn't going to hurt him, I'm not too worried. Lea can take care of himself."

"Luca's about as dangerous as a pigeon," Esmeralda said, and Kairi laughed. Esmeralda's green eyes lit up cheerfully. "If you two are going to be in the city for a while, why don't you come to the square with me?" she asked. "Some friends and I are putting on a little show for the vendors, hoping to draw in some customers." She grinned impishly. "Would you like to learn a Roma dance?"

" _Would_ I?" Kairi gasped, grabbing Riku's hand. "Can we, Riku?"

"I-I'm not dancing!" Riku said quickly, pulling at the back of his neck, and then gave a sigh. "But... I guess we can go watch. If you want to dance, Kairi, that's fine."

She bounced where she stood, squeezing Riku's hand and beaming at Esmeralda.

"Yes, I would _love_ to learn a dance," she said, eagerly following her as they headed back out into the crowd.

Whatever Riku had done here during his exam, it had really left its mark on him; she hadn't seen him this happy and sure of himself in a while, and it was really refreshing. She knew Riku took everything too hard, too personal, and she _knew_ it made things hard for him. One mistake could ruin everything, the way he saw it, so she was determined to make sure that there were zero mistakes on these missions. That didn't mean there had to be zero fun, though, right? As she followed Esmeralda through the sea of people in the square, still clutching Riku's hand, she glanced back at him and smiled broadly, her heart swelling with joy when the expression was returned.

She could only hope this was the beginning of a long string of confident smiles.


	12. Tunnel Vision

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Tunnel Vision**

 _In which our heroes become tombraiders._

ミ

Lea kind of felt like an idiot, and despite the fact that he usually had no qualms about looking a bit foolish if it meant cheering somebody up, he really hated looking _dumb_. This gypsy—er... Romani, whatever—had really made him look downright stupid, in front of two of the only people whose opinions he genuinely gave a damn about, and he wasn't too happy about it. Really, _imagine_ , him getting his pocket picked in broad daylight! He was already trying to come up with a proportionate punishment for this guy, but so far he had to think that facial burns probably would have earned him a scolding from Riku. (What a party-pooper.)

It was no easy task to follow the man through the crowd in the middle of the square in Paris. Lea had plenty of experience tailing people, but he had a feeling this guy had some experience _being_ tailed, because he moved through the crowd like water, doubling back and clearly trying to shake off anyone that might have been trying to follow him. Well, Lea wasn't going to be so easily gotten rid of. He managed to stick to the Romani man, waiting for the right moment to try and confront him, but a moment didn't come. He couldn't just attack him in the middle of the square, after all—he would probably play the victim card if that happened, and while Lea wasn't sure the public would side with a Romani, he had to figure they'd be _less_ inclined to side with an out-of-towner.

After about twenty minutes of rigmarole, it seemed the man was finally convinced he wasn't being followed anymore and headed away from the crowd, and Lea knew this was his chance. Oh, how he wished he had any talent with Slow or Stop spells, it was always entertaining to watch someone who had fallen prey to Time magicks. He continued to follow as the Romani headed east, away from the square and the cathedral, until they arrived at a large wrought-iron gate that led into a cemetery. Lea hesitated, frowning. He wasn't really the superstitious type, but somehow chasing someone through a graveyard felt like a bad idea.

He wasn't just going to let that guy have his munny, though! With a growl, Lea followed him into the cemetery, shaking his head. Well, everyone in a graveyard was already _dead_ , right? He _probably_ wouldn't run into any trouble.

(Who was he kidding? Lea had a _penchant_ for running into trouble.)

He ducked behind a large headstone to see where the Romani went. This place was a little creepy; it was far too quiet and way too still. Granted, he guessed quiet and still were preferable to the alternatives, given it was a _cemetery_. He really wasn't in the mood for zombies. The grounds were old and a bit unkempt, some of the headstones were broken or toppling sideways, and he frowned at the name etched into the marker he was hiding behind. _Jehan le Cler_ , it read, _14 September 1465 - 18 December 1481_. Lea made a face and pulled away from the headstone. The person buried there had died when they were sixteen. _Sixteen_... that was far too young. That was how old he'd been when he'd lost his heart. Suddenly he felt like he had way too much in common with this Jehan person buried beneath him. Ugh, wasn't it bad luck to tread on people's graves anyway? Perfect, now he was going to be haunted on top of broke.

Watching as the Romani man glanced over his shoulder and then vanished into the open tomb in front of a small mausoleum, Lea shuddered. Okay, he wasn't really sure if getting his wallet back was worth going into an open grave. He couldn't deny his curiosity, though. Where had the man _gone_? Where did the tomb lead? Surely he hadn't just jumped into a six-foot hole in the ground, that wouldn't have made any sense. There had to be something down there, a tunnel, perhaps. Curiouser and curiouser...

He crept out from behind the gravestone and approached the open tomb hesitantly, his steps light like he was worried the ground might collapse under his feet. Craning his neck, Lea tried to peer up and over the ledge of the tomb without getting too close. There were stairs beyond the lip of the tomb, stairs that went steeply downward and into a black obscurity. He could faintly hear what sounded like water dripping from somewhere below, slow and rhythmic. What was down there, beyond what he could see? What was at the bottom of those stairs? Lea stepped half an inch closer, reaching out to steady himself on the ledge, and—

"Drop something?"

" _Uwaugh—!_ "

Lea let out a shrill yelp and staggered sideways when a voice piped up from behind him, and he turned sharply with a glare when Kairi burst out laughing.

"Hey, wow, that was _not_ funny," he said, jabbing a finger at her as Riku folded his arms and gave Lea a self-satisfied look.

"What happened to 'a hundred years too early to sneak up on me'?" he asked with a grin, and Lea harrumphed.

"I was _preoccupied_ ," he snarled, and Riku didn't really look convinced as he hid laughter behind one hand.

Kairi, meanwhile, was holding her sides. "You went white as a sheet," she guffawed. "I wish you could have seen your face!"

"Har har, you guys are a riot," Lea grumbled, rolling his eyes. Actually, he was a little surprised himself; he _had_ been kind of preoccupied, but usually when he was spooked he was _more_ on-edge. Why hadn't their presence been obvious to him? Had he really gotten so comfortable around them already? He raked a hand back through his hair and hefted a sigh, then put his hands on his hips. "What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked. "I thought we were going to meet at the cathedral later."

"That was _your_ idea," Riku said, arching one eyebrow.

"We saw you running in circles in the square after we met up with someone Riku knows here," Kairi said, one hand still on her side and the other wiping a tear of laughter away from one eye. "So we followed you."

"We thought maybe you could use a hand getting your wallet back," Riku said, grinning again, and Lea fought the urge to make a very rude gesture with a particular finger.

"I was fine," he insisted, folding his arms and looking unimpressed. "I was just following the guy and he came here," he said, gesturing to the open tomb. "I was debating the merits of going after him, is all."

"You were _scared_ ," Kairi snickered, giggling again, and Lea advanced toward her, making a swatting motion. She squealed and ducked behind Riku, still laughing. "Lea, it's a _graveyard_ , it's supposed to be scary," she said. "There's no shame in being afraid to go into an open crypt, okay?"

"Then why are you laughing at me?" he asked, glowering when Riku saw fit to laugh as well. His ears went a little red at that. Now he felt _extra_ stupid.

"Your reaction is what's funny," Riku said, shaking his head and stepping forward to approach the tomb. "You're so animated, it's like watching TV." He leaned over the ledge to peer down the stone stairs that led downward and quickly faded to inky black.

Lea exhaled audibly, then moved up beside him, staring down as well.

"What do you think?" he asked, giving Riku a sidelong look. The truth was, he really didn't want to go down there alone. Maybe Kairi was a _little_ right, maybe he was a _little_ freaked out by this place. Lea liked ghost stories and horror movies, but mostly because what he'd been through was that much worse than anything a filmmaker could dream up; he wasn't so sure about living one _on purpose_.

"I think this is an awful lot of trouble for a wallet," Riku said, then lifted his chin a little to indicate the inscription over the tomb. "There's something written there," he said, and Lea squinted at it.

"Well, don't look at me," he said. "The only stuff I can say in French isn't anything to be said on hallowed ground."

"I think it's Latin, actually," Kairi said, stepping up alongside him, and Lea quirked his mouth to one side.

"I can't even _swear_ in Latin, so I got nothin'."

Kairi paused for a moment, and then took Lea's arm, using it for leverage as she clambered up onto the ledge. "I wanna see what's down there," she said, standing on the top step, and both men blinked at her.

"Are you serious?" Lea asked. Weren't girls supposed to be afraid of ghosts?

"'Course I'm serious," she said, hands on her hips again. "I think we've come this far, so we might as well see it through, you know? Aren't you even the least bit curious?"

"Kinda," Lea said at the same time Riku said, "Not really." They glanced at each other, then back up at Kairi.

"Come on, it can't hurt to take a look," she said, and blithely headed down the steps.

"Kairi— _wait_!" Riku reached after her to grab her wrist, but wasn't quite fast enough to catch her before she disappeared into the shadows. "Great, why doesn't anybody ever listen to me?" he muttered, and then looked at Lea. "I guess she made the decision for us."

Lea grimaced, but dutifully hoisted himself up and over the ledge. "I'm pretty sure I've seen this movie," he said with a shake of his head.

"Don't tell me how it ends," Riku said, hopping up after him and following Kairi down into the darkness below them, "I don't think I want to know."

Lea headed down after him, calling a tongue of flame to one hand as they descended the stairs.

"Kairi, wait up," Riku called, dragging his fingers across the wall and then recoiling sharply with a noise of disgust, wringing his hand. Lea decided he did _not_ want to investigate what was growing on the walls.

As they continued downward, a light appeared from below, and Lea could make out Kairi's silhouette at the base of the stairs.

"There's water," she said, frowning, but he was more interested in the rest of their surroundings.

The ceiling was high—about two and a half times the height of any normal ceiling, and there were torches along the walls. There were also piles of bones along the walls. Piles _and piles_ of bones. There must have been at least a hundred skulls in each pile, stacked up against the thick stone walls beneath the torches, along the length of the room, and Lea had a sudden very distinct sinking feeling about this entire undertaking. He raised one hand.

"All in favor of going back to the surface?" he asked, and Riku started to raise his hand as well before Kairi snatched it.

"Don't be such a 'fraidycat," she scolded. "They're just bones."

"Bones that used to belong to somebody," Riku pointed out. "You know, like a _body_?"

"Yeah, how do you think they _got_ here?" Lea asked dryly. Kairi met his eye and gave him a look. Lea held her gaze a moment, then decided that obviously someone was going to have to make a move here, and it might as well have been him. This had all been his idea in the first place, and he really needed to get better about seeing things through, didn't he? Very well. He shrugged and moved past her, stepping into the ankle-deep water. "Fine, but if we die it's all your fault," he said, making a face. Eugh, wet shoes.

Riku made a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a whine of protest. "Could we maybe _not_?" he asked, and Lea glanced over his shoulder as he trudged through the water.

"Ohh no," he said, "I'm invested in this now, I got my _shoes_ wet. You guys are coming if I have to drag you; come on, it ain't deep."

"Depth isn't what I'm _worried_ about," Riku said, making a face as he stepped into the water after Lea. Kairi followed, making a similar face, and Lea was starting to wish he'd worn his boots for this mission. They slogged through the dirty water toward an opening in a side wall, and Lea was grateful when he saw that the water didn't cover the next section of the tunnel.

"It goes back up," he said, stepping out of the water and shaking his feet rather like a cat might: one at a time, trying to get the water out of his shoes. "This room's dry."

"Thank goodness," Kairi said, still making that face as she followed Lea and stepped to one side, picking her feet up as if to drip-dry her shoes. "If the whole going down into a tomb thing wasn't enough of a deterrent, that gross water sure would be."

"And yet here we are," Riku said, stepping up out of the water after her.

"Yes, here you are."

All three of them tensed instantly, spines going rigid as a fourth voice echoed in the semidarkness. Where had it come from? Lea whirled in time to see the Romani man step out of the shadows to their left. He snatched Kairi by the arm and yanked her backward, and she yelped in alarm as he pulled her close and covered her mouth with one hand.

"Shh, shh, do not make noise, little girl," he crooned at her, "or you will wake the dead!"

"Let her go," Riku said, stepping forward, and the Romani man stepped backward in kind, taking Kairi with him.

"Ah ah," he said, shaking his head, "stay where you are, _mon frère_ , we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt."

Riku summoned his Keyblade, dropping into an offensive stance as it shimmered into view. "No, we wouldn't," he said dangerously, and Lea reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. His courage was admirable, but offense wasn't the way to handle a hostage situation—he was only going to make things worse if he riled the Romani man up.

"Easy, Riku, let's everybody just take it easy, okay?" He held both hands up then, as if in surrender, and Kairi gave him a desperate look, struggling against the man's grip. She had been the bravest of them only a moment ago, willing to face all the things they hadn't been able to see, but suddenly she looked so much smaller. Lea grit his teeth. This was _not_ how he had wanted this excursion to go.

"Why are you following me?" the Romani man demanded, his dark eyes narrow as they flicked from Lea to Riku and back. "You've been after me since the square, haven't you?"

"Dude, you stole my _wallet_ ," Lea snapped. "I just wanted it back."

There was a beat of silence, and then the man just threw his head back and laughed, tossing his stringy black hair. "All of this, for a wallet?" he snorted. "You are truly foolish, my good sir, and now you have dragged your friends into your trouble as well."

"Actually, they came on their own," he said with a grain of exasperation, and Riku made a frustrated noise at him, Keyblade still drawn.

There was a protracted instant of tense silence, and then Riku's shoulders lifted as he took a breath. "Look, your name is Luca, right?" Riku said, lowering his weapon a bit and giving the Romani a severe stare.

The man looked a little wary suddenly, lifting his chin. "How do you know this?" he asked, and Riku squared his posture.

"You've got a pretty big reputation in the city," he said. Lea arched one eyebrow—this was news to him. How did Riku know who this guy was?

"Reputation?"

"As a man of honor among thieves," Riku said, and Luca squinted, then smiled a bit. Lea suddenly realized what was happening: Riku was _baiting_ him. He wasn't sure how the hell Riku knew this guy's name, but he was _definitely_ stroking his ego, which was a classic subterfuge move. And here he hadn't thought Riku had it in him to be so underhanded. "We aren't here to give you trouble, Luca. We don't want a fight. How about we settle this with a game?" he asked. "Romani are good at games, right?"

"We are the best," Luca assured him, and Riku nodded.

"You can choose what we play, and if you win, you can keep the wallet and we'll just leave, no questions asked. If we win, you give it back, and we'll still leave, no questions asked." He gestured to Kairi, then dismissed his Keyblade and showed Luca his empty hands. "Just let her go, and we can settle this like civilized people, okay?" He shook his head. "You have no use for a hostage."

Luca hesitated, then furrowed his brow. He seemed to think for a long, quiet moment, and then a thin smile crossed his features. With a flourish, he released Kairi from his grip.

"Very well," he said. "The girl is yours."

Kairi staggered forward, stumbled, then caught herself and darted to Riku's side. Riku caught her hand in one of his and then held Luca's eye as the dark-haired man shifted his weight where he stood.

"And our game?" he asked.

Luca stepped to his right and turned a large crate on its side, then produced a trio of steel cups from seemingly out of nowhere. Lea's eyes narrowed; if this guy knew sleight of hand then they might have been in some trouble. He knew the sorts of games a street performer like this guy excelled at, and prestidigitation was surely par for the course. At this point he was less worried about his wallet and more worried about just _getting out of here_ , but Riku didn't seem rattled. He had to figure the younger man had a plan of some sort—he usually did. He was pragmatic that way. Luca set the cups down on top of the crate, open side down, and rested his palms atop the two outer cups.

"For the wallet, then," he said, grinning toothily, "we will play cups." He rolled his wrist and held up what looked like a white marble. "You understand how the game is played, do you not?"

"I have to guess which cup the ball is under, right?" Riku asked, giving Kairi's hand a squeeze and then stepping forward. "I accept your challenge."

Kairi lingered behind as he moved toward Luca, then glanced at Lea and moved to his side instead. Lea touched her shoulder, cursing that penchant of his for finding trouble. Getting himself in hot water was one thing, but he'd never meant to get Kairi and Riku involved, even if they'd followed of their own volition.

"You okay?" he asked, and she nodded hurriedly. He squeezed her shoulder, then turned narrow eyes back to Riku. None of this had gone the way he'd planned, but something told him that Riku knew what he was doing. "It'll be all right," he said quietly as Kairi pressed herself against his side. After all, if there was anyone who knew how to beat someone at their own game, it was Riku.

* * *

Oh my god I did it again, I forgot to keep crossposting old backlog here I'M SORRY. I swear I really am going to try and be better about this gaskv,sdf lord. Still like 30 chapters to go, tho, so i'm not gonna post them all at once that would just be ridiculous. Gonna try and do two or so a week until I get caught up, sorry again! thanks for reading!


	13. Sleight of Hand

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Sleight of Hand**

 _In which you lost the game._

ミ

Riku was not a gambler, not by a long shot. In fact, the only reason he even knew how the game of cups _worked_ was because he'd seen a Romani woman playing it the last time he had been in Paris. It had seemed simple enough: all you had to do was pay attention and you really couldn't lose, right? He wasn't worried at all. There was a look on Lea's face that said _he_ was, but Riku wasn't going to let that shake his confidence. Not here.

The last mission had been something of a disaster, in his opinion; he had fumbled speaking to Mulan, to her grandmother, and even fumbled with the emperor. They had had to impose upon the Fa family, and he hadn't done a single thing for that world to deserve such hospitality—it had just been a great big mess. He was supposed to be a _Master_ , he was representing Keyblade wielders everywhere, representing Light itself, and he'd just looked like a big idiot. Lea had even had to answer questions for him a couple of times, and while he appreciated the assistance when his tongue had been tied, what kind of Master needed his student to speak up for him?

Here, though, he knew that his efforts had been beneficial, not only for Esmeralda and Quasimodo, but for the world as a whole as well. Here Riku could be confident. He would win this game, he would get Lea's wallet back, and they would get out of here in one piece so they could go see the archdeacon and complete their mission.

Piece of cake.

"Are you ready to play our game?" Luca asked, his hands held over the three cups on the overturned box.

Riku glanced at Lea and Kairi.

"It's not like the wallet's even a big deal," Lea said, mostly under his breath, folding his arms where he stood and looking a little put off. Riku grinned a bit, shaking his head. The wallet was the whole reason they were here in the first place. If Lea was embarrassed because Riku was sticking up for him this way, that was his prerogative, but Riku wasn't going to forgo this game just because Lea was bad at accepting a favor. He looked back at Luca and nodded.

"I'm ready," he said, and Luca grinned.

"Then let's begin," he said. "We will play three rounds—you will only have one chance to make a mistake, so be very careful, _mon frère_."

Without hesitation, he lifted one of the cups and dropped the little white ball beneath it, and then proceeded to move the cups lightly across the surface of the box.

Round and round and round the cups went, and Riku followed the one with the ball beneath it easily. This wasn't going to be difficult at all; Luca wasn't even moving the cups terribly quickly. Was he as bad at cups as Esmeralda had indicated he was at cards? If that was the case, this wasn't going to be difficult at all. Something in the back of his mind told him it wasn't going to be that easy, but for the moment he was feeling pretty assured of himself.

The cups came to a stop, and Luca pulled his hands back, giving Riku an expectant look. Riku held his gaze for a long moment, then narrowed his eyes a little.

"It's under the cup on your left," he said.

Luca's grin was predatory.

"So sorry, my friend," he said, "but I'm afraid you've used up your one mistake already!"

Riku's eyebrows crinkled together when Luca lifted the indicated cup only to reveal empty space beneath it, and his lips parted in dismay. That was impossible! Riku was _certain_ he had followed the ball perfectly—how could he have been wrong?

"Uh… Riku?" Lea's voice cut through the thick, startled silence in the air and Riku turned to glance at him. "Look, forget about the wallet, let's just go."

There was something in his voice that said there was more to the request than impatience, and Riku frowned. He turned back to Luca then and started to shake his head. If Lea was ready to give the wallet up then there was no real reason to press for it, especially not if there was something else at work.

"You still have two tries left," Luca said, smiling thinly, "so do not be discouraged just yet. Are you ready to go again?"

Something just wasn't right here. Riku could accept having lost Rock Paper Scissors with Lea; that game was mostly just plain luck. This, however, was a game of observation, and while Riku didn't always manage to focus on the little details of a larger situation, when he paid deliberate attention it was difficult to put one over on him. How could he have been wrong? He pressed a knuckle against his chin.

"Hang in there, Riku," Kairi piped up from behind, and Riku gave a start, snapping out of his trance of musing. He glanced back at her and nodded, frowning at the worry written into her face. Lea shook his head again, and Riku felt a stab of uneasiness poke at his insides.

He turned back to Luca and started to back out. This just felt really wrong and he couldn't quite put his finger on why, but Luca held up one hand quickly.

"You cannot just give up," Luca said. "That's not how the game works."

Riku grit his teeth. "Fine. Then I'm ready," he said, setting his jaw, determined not to make a second mistake.

Luca lifted the cup in the middle, pulling the ball out from under it and holding it up for Riku to see before placing it beneath the cup again.

"Do not take your eyes off the cup, my friend," he said, waving his hands above the trio of cups and then taking hold of the base of two of them. He wove them around and around one another, as if trying to braid the air between them, but Riku kept a sharp eye on the cup with the ball beneath it. This time he was _sure_ he would get it right.

Luca's hands came to a stop, and he stepped back, folding his arms over his chest.

"So," he said, that predatory smile on his face again, "where is the ball this time?"

Riku hesitated. It was under the middle cup, he was _sure_ of it, he had followed the ball so carefully this time! He chanced a glance back at Riku and Kairi, frowning a little. Kairi still looked worried, like she was a little concerned that if he lost again the Romani man would try and take her away as a prize. Riku would never have let that happen, of course, but he wondered if Luca would dare to try such a thing. He noted Lea's hand on Kairi's shoulder and met the redhead's eye briefly. Lea was shaking his head again, ever so slightly, and Riku just couldn't shake that uneasy feeling. Lea was usually the most easygoing of the three of them, and the stern uncomfortable look on his face was unsettling. What wasn't he saying, and why wasn't he saying it?

He turned back to Luca.

"It's under the middle cup," he said, his lips pulled into a grim, stern frown.

"Are you sure about that, _mon frère_?" Luca asked, holding one hand over the middle cup. "Choose carefully, you don't get another mistake."

Had he made another mistake? No, he was sure the ball was under the middle cup. Luca was just trying to psych him out, to make him second-guess his own observations. He _wanted_ him to change his choice, because he was _right_.

… Right?

"I'm sure," he said, squaring his shoulders. "It's the middle cup."

Luca just grinned and shook his head.

"I am so sorry, my friend," he said, lifting the cup, "but you are wrong again."

The space beneath the cup was empty. It was _empty_? How could that be? Riku was _certain_ he had followed the cup with the ball beneath it at every turn!

"That can't be right," he said, shaking his head, and Luca clicked his tongue.

"It's sad but true," the Romani said, standing the cup right side up and giving Riku a notably patronizing look. "You can see with your own eyes that the ball is not there." He folded his arms again. "It looks like your friend's wallet belongs to me now," he said, and Riku clenched his teeth.

"Riku, just forget it," Lea called from behind him. "It isn't worth it. Let's _go_."

Riku just shook his head, a little distressed. This wasn't even really about the wallet anymore. Certainly getting Lea's wallet back would have been nice, but he was less worried about Lea's munny and more concerned that they were being _cheated_ , and that was something he really couldn't abide. Could he really have been wrong? One mistake he could accept easily, but not two in a row, not when it was such a simple game. Was that what Lea had been trying to get across? Would Luca really cheat to win nothing more than a wallet?

Impulsively (and perhaps against his better judgment), Riku flicked one hand, casting a weak Aero spell and flipping the cups onto their sides. Luca let out a sharp yelp, scrambling to replace them, but it was too late. Riku had seen the truth of his 'mistakes': all three cups were empty. The ball hadn't been beneath _any_ of them.

"You cheated!" Riku shook his head, not even quite able to believe what he was seeing. He had wanted to be wrong, wanted to believe that Luca was just very good at what he did. Maybe he'd simply been mistaking what Luca was _good_ at; that sleight of hand he'd used earlier had only been a preview of what he was really capable of, it seemed. "You didn't even put the ball down—I would have been right both times, wouldn't I?"

Maybe he should have known better than to trust him. Trusting people always seemed to get him into trouble. Didn't it just figure?

Luca drew back with a venomous look on his face, his jaw working soundlessly as he fumbled for a retort, but he couldn't find any. He'd been caught in his own lie, and Riku wasn't going to let him get away with it. He held out one hand.

"Give the wallet back," he said boldly. "I didn't lose the game—you didn't play fairly."

Luca's lips twisted into a dangerous sort of smile.

"I will tell you a secret, _mon frère_ ," he said, and something twinged worriedly in Riku's gut. "Though you were correct when you guessed which cup the ball was beneath, you _did_ make one terrible mistake."

Riku withdrew his hand and frowned.

"What's that?" he asked, and whirled when he heard Kairi cry out. The space was suddenly filled with a dozen or more Romani men that had formed a semicircle around her and Lea.

"You expected a Romani to play fair," Luca said, and Riku felt his heart sink. The game hadn't been an attempt to give Riku a shot at winning the wallet back at all! It had been a diversion to make time for an ambush! _That_ was what Lea had been trying to say! No wonder he hadn't spoken up; if Luca had known they were onto him, they would have attacked anyway. Luca had forbidden him to give up so the Romani would have time to gather.

"Kairi—"

"Do not move, my friend," Luca said, snapping his fingers, "unless you want your friends to lose their heads." He snickered darkly. "A reputation of honor among thieves... as if such a thing were true."

Riku watched in horror as the armed Romani men that surrounded his companions held their blades up; a saber here, a dagger there. Lea reached out and put an arm up in front of Kairi, but didn't conjure his weapons. Riku had to suppose that was probably the smarter choice, but it was all he could do to not call his Keyblade to his hand.

"What is it you want?" he asked, turning back to Luca. "Forget about the wallet, just let them go."

"Are you so convinced that this is about money?" Luca asked with a derisive snort. "The wallet will buy me dinner, of course, but I cannot let you and your friends leave this place."

"All this because we stepped in your stupid muddy water?" Lea demanded incredulously, and Luca tossed his head, sweeping his hair off his brow.

"The Court of Miracles is a well-kept secret," he said. "If the people of Paris knew of this place, we Romani would be wiped out!"

"It's a tunnel under a conspicuously open tomb," Lea sneered; "that's not a secret, it's practically an invitation."

The Romani around them took a step closer, and Kairi shrank back against Lea, her eyes fierce though her face was drawn in fear.

Luca lifted his chin, scowling. "I cannot just let you go when you know precisely where to find us."

"We've got nobody to _tell_ ," Riku insisted, his heart and head both racing as he struggled to think of a way to get out of this. He couldn't believe he'd been so foolish—he should have put his foot down about coming down here in the first place! "We aren't even from Paris," he said, "we don't know anyone in the city except—"

"I will hear none of your excuses," Luca said sharply, waving one hand in the air. "Tie them up—we'll hang them in the main square!"

"Yeah, I don't think so," Lea said, snapping both hands out, his chakrams coming faithfully to his call. "We've got a schedule to keep, and _hanging_ around ain't on it."

Really? Lea had time to make _puns_?

Riku followed suit, making good use of the instant Luca's guard faltered when Lea's weapons appeared in his hands. The Romani may have been experienced at cheating, but they had apparently never seen a weapon summoned out of empty space before. Drawing Way to the Dawn from the air, he twisted sharply and leveled the blade at Luca's neck.

"Tell your friends to lower their weapons," he snarled, "or you'll be the one losing your head."

Luca put both hands up slowly, dropping the little white ball to the ground, where it rolled over the uneven stones and came to a stop beside Riku's foot. Riku kicked it aside spitefully, then moved his Keyblade just enough to let Luca know he meant business. He would never have actually relieved the man of his head, but _Luca_ didn't know that. Luca swallowed visibly, then waggled his fingers in the air.

"Put your blades down, you fools," he called; "are you trying to get me killed?"

The ring of Romani around Lea and Kairi stepped back, weapons at their sides, but Lea kept his chakrams drawn. Kairi looked shaken, and Riku scowled. Luca wouldn't lose his head for this, but Riku wasn't going to let him off easy, not after threatening Kairi.

"You will never leave this place alive," Luca hissed, his voice low, and Riku's eyes narrowed poisonously.

"I'm not the one with a sword at their throat," he said, and Luca grimaced.

Quiet stretched between them for a long moment as the Romani kept their weapons at their sides but held their ground not far from where Lea and Kairi still stood. In the protracted silence, Riku could hear the sound of water moving from the next room, and he tightened his jaw. If that was more reinforcements, they might have been in trouble.

A sharp gasp punctuated the air.

"Luca, just what in the world is going _on_ down here?"

Riku recognized Esmeralda's voice before he saw her step into the raised room, her skirts hiked up to keep them out of the filthy water on the floor of the catacombs. There was a look of shock on her face, which quickly shifted to something like long-suffering apology as she met Riku's eye. He wasn't sure if he felt relieved or betrayed in that moment—had Esmeralda been in on this? No, that wasn't possible.

"Esmeralda!" Luca's face broke into a grin. "Thank goodness you're here! These three trespassers—"

"Are friends of mine, you fool," she interrupted, dropping the hem of her skirt and stepping up alongside him to cuff him on the back of the head. "All of you, put your weapons away, there's no need to fight here. Riku and his friends are no threat to us."

Riku hesitated for a breathless moment. He trusted Esmeralda, he didn't think she would trick him into dismissing his weapon only to finish what Luca had started, but for that heavy instant he wasn't certain. He had trusted Luca to play fairly, and look where that had landed them. What if he lowered his Keyblade only to seal Kairi and Lea's fate? He had already made a dangerous mistake even coming down here, and he wasn't about to make another.

Esmeralda reached up and gently placed her hands on the edge of the Keyblade.

"Riku, it's all right," she said quietly, meeting his eye and giving him a nod. "You can trust me."

"They are friends of yours?" Luca asked, and then shot Riku a dirty look. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"I _tried_!" Riku insisted.

Esmeralda reached out and snatched Luca by the ear. He yowled in pain and Riku stumbled backward as Esmeralda cast a fierce glower toward the rest of the Romani men that were gathered in the tunnel.

"Would anyone else care to be taught a lesson?" she asked. "Drop your weapons and leave these people alone."

There was a clatter as every single one of the still-armed Romani promptly dropped their swords to the ground. Lea lowered his chakrams but didn't send them away until he fixed Riku with an unsteady sort of look, like he was asking permission. Riku nodded—it was safe, now; he could trust Esmeralda at her word, and she clearly had the rest of the Romani's respect—and the chakrams vanished in a whirl of smoke.

Riku heaved a sigh and dismissed his Keyblade, hurrying to Kairi's side and reaching out as if to take her arm. His hand stopped just shy of touching her, but she closed the distance for him, throwing her arms around his neck. He was sure he flushed bright red, but he wrapped his arms around her back anyway.

"I'm sorry!" she whispered into his shoulder. "I didn't know what to do! I wanted to draw my Keyblade too, but I couldn't do it—I couldn't draw my weapon on actual _people_."

"It's all right," he said, realizing then that the only reason he'd been able to do just that was because Kairi had been in danger. Riku didn't think he would have ever been able to really hurt someone he didn't know for a fact was evil, but when Luca had threatened Kairi and Lea it had just been reflexive. It was the sworn duty of a Keyblade Master to defend the people of all the worlds, but when those people endangered his students, his _friends_ , that duty took a back seat.

Was that allowed? He hadn't even _thought_ about it, he'd just drawn his blade on Luca, whose only crimes had been cheating and not listening. Well, and theft. Still, they were hardly crimes punishable by death or injury!

"Are you three all right?" Esmeralda asked, having released Luca's ear. She put a hand on Kairi's shoulder as she pulled back from the hug, her eyes bright with worry. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea Luca would do something like this." She shook her head. "By himself he's completely harmless; I never suspected he would lead you here."

"What _is_ this place, anyway?" Lea asked, rubbing the back of his neck and looking kind of tired suddenly. "Admittedly, most people wouldn't just jump right into an open tomb, but you guys really oughtta put up a Do Not Enter sign or something, sheesh."

"This tunnel leads to the Court of Miracles," she said. "It's our safe haven from the persecution we face on the streets of Paris. No one but Romani can come here without express permission."

"Might wanna think about having an invite list or something," Lea grumbled, and Riku gave him a flat look. He was getting the feeling Lea hid behind sarcasm as a screen—there had been genuine worry scrawled brightly across his face when he and Kairi had been surrounded. He was pretty good at playing it off, but the fear had been there, in the way his jaw had clenched when he'd put his arm up to defend Kairi.

Lea had drawn his weapons first—maybe it wasn't so bad to prioritize one's own important people. Part of him wanted to ask what Lea's thoughts on the subject were, while the rest of him wondered if it was strange for a teacher to ask their student about something like that. Why wasn't there a rulebook or something?

Riku turned and cast Luca a severe look. It was funny to him that this man who had been prepared to drag them off to be hanged only a moment ago now seemed to quail under scrutiny. Esmeralda really did have a lot of clout, didn't she? Sometimes he had to think that it wasn't mere happenstance that led him to the people he met; sometimes Riku felt like there _were_ no coincidences. Maybe this trail had already been laid out for him, this path between light and dark, and each fork in the road was marked by a meaningful bond. How far off-track might he have found himself if he hadn't taken the path Kairi's friendship represented? Or Lea's?

Speaking of Lea... He lifted his chin and narrowed his eyes at Luca.

"I think you have something that doesn't belong to you," he said, and Luca curled his lip.

"I have many things that do not belong to me," he said stiffly; "it is the Romani way." And then he grimaced when Riku held his hand out expectantly. "Fine, fine," he huffed, reaching into his tunic and pulling out a black wallet with a rather goofy-looking image of a cartoon flame on it. "There wasn't very much in it anyway, I should have known it wouldn't be worth the trouble."

"Are you saying I look _cheap_?" Lea demanded as Riku snatched the wallet out of Luca's hand.

Luca examined his fingernails.

"I am saying that I should have taken the wallet of someone who was better dressed."

Lea fisted his hands and glowered. "Dude, you wanna go? Keep talking," he snarled, and Riku just stepped between them, laughing softly as he thrust the wallet forward and planted it against Lea's chest.

"Take your wallet and stop arguing," he said, shaking his head. "It all turned out okay, right?"

Lea shoved his wallet back into his pocket with a harrumph, then gave Riku a look that balanced along the edge of apology.

"Sorry I dragged you guys into this," he said, averting his eyes and looking uncomfortable.

Kairi shook her head and nudged him with her hip.

"You already said before that we came all on our own," she reminded him with a smile. "You can't take that back now."

He frowned at her, looking oddly lost for retort, and Riku waved a hand.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "The important thing is that nobody got hurt."

Lea folded his arms. "My _pride_ is a little bruised," he said.

"Put some ice on it and you'll be fine," Riku said with a roll of his eyes before turning his attention to Esmeralda. "Thank you for your help," he said, ignoring Lea's mocking mimic of his previous words. "We'll keep this place a secret, for sure."

"I know you will," Esmeralda said with a nod. She reached into a pouch at her hip and retrieved what looked like a small round green stone. Pressing it into Riku's hand, she closed his fingers over it. "If you ever find yourself in trouble again with my people, just show them this," she said, and then grinned. "They know better than to mess with my friends."

Riku opened his fingers to look at the stone. It was a brilliant sea-green color—an emerald? A real one? His eyes widened.

"Are you sure?" That stone could have bought a lot of stuff, couldn't it?

"I'm positive," she said, taking him by the shoulder to steer him back toward the stairs that led out of the catacombs. "Friendship doesn't have a price tag; keep it safe and remember I'll always help you when I can."

"Thank you, I will," he said.

He tucked the emerald into his pocket with a faint smile. She was right: friendship _didn't_ have a price, so maybe it didn't really have hard and fast rules any more than a static value. It wasn't a _bad_ thing to want to keep one's friends safe, and Riku knew that he would never have actually _hurt_ Luca unless he'd had absolutely no other choice. Maybe friends were allowed to take priority over duty, so long as that duty was upheld in the end.

Turning over his shoulder, he made a beckoning gesture at Lea and Kairi.

"Come on, you two," he said, jerking his thumb toward the stairs. "We've still got a mission to finish."


	14. The Cottage In the Woods

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 14:** **The Cottage in the Woods**

 _In which Riku has a bad feeling about this._

ミ

Riku would never cease to be amazed at where the train seemed to think was an acceptable place to stop. He could understand wanting to keep things unobtrusive, but really, a train stop right in the middle of a dense forest? That struck him as neither convenient nor particularly plausible-how had the train even gotten _through_ the forest? He didn't want to think about the way it traveled in the spaces between the worlds; it gave him a headache.

Kairi seemed far less concerned with how they got there and much more in awe of their surroundings. As they stepped out of the train, her jaw slid open and her eyes widened as she looked up and up and up toward the canopy of the trees impossibly high above them. He had to smile a little-she'd been wowed by Paris, too, and he never quite got tired of seeing her eyes light up that way.

"Wow," she breathed. "What _is_ this place? I've never seen such a beautiful forest..."

Riku cast his eyes up, too, and even Lea let out a low, appraising whistle.

"It's called The Highlands," Riku said, shoving his hands into his pockets and backing up to peer up the ancient shaft of an old growth tree. "Master Yen Sid said that we need to see a woman named Elinor? She's queen of the Kingdom of DunBroch, which... should be where we are."

"Is the castle in the forest?" Lea asked, sounding impressed. "'Cuz really, I'd say this is a place fit for royalty."

"It's amazing," Kairi said, and Riku nodded.

It was quite the impressive setting, that was for sure. The trees were enormous and clearly very old, their trunks soft with moss and their roots rising away from the damp earth. There were boulders that dotted the landscape as well, cool to the touch, somehow dwarfed by the massive trees around them. Riku could hear a brook babbling from somewhere nearby, and the air was crisp and clean-there wasn't even the slightest hint of any pollutants. It was really refreshing.

The train vanished with a flicker of white light, and Riku glanced behind them, his hands on the straps of his knapsack. They would have to remember where they were, to find the train again later; that was going to be a little difficult in this thick wooded area. Great, that was just what they needed: to get lost and be unable to find their way back to the tower.

"Lea, can you mark these trees?" Riku asked, turning to the older man. "We're gonna need to come back here to take the train home, and I don't want to get lost or forget where it is."

Lea arched one eyebrow. "I'm not going to make the pee joke that you have left yourself wide open for," he said dryly, shaking his head, "because I'm an adult."

Riku made a face. "Oh come on, that isn't what I meant and you know it." Really, it was hard to believe Lea was the oldest of them. "Don't be gross."

Lea summoned one of his chakrams and dragged a spike along the trunk of the nearest tree, leaving a notch in the bark. He then proceeded to do the same on a few others, leaving notches in a circle around the small clearing where the train had deposited them.

"We'll have to keep an eye on what direction we're headed," he said, turning back to Riku and Kairi, "but this'll at least let us know when we're in the right place."

"Thanks," Riku said, and then shaded his eyes to look up at the sky. "The sun looks like it's at about 4pm, assuming this world runs on a similar schedule to most, which would make..."-he turned, pointing-"that north."

"So which way is this Elinor's castle?" Lea asked, dismissing the chakram, and Riku shook his head.

"I... don't know," he admitted. "Master Yen Sid didn't give me _directions_ ; this is one of the first worlds that was closed off back when the train lines were shut down, he told me. I don't think the Heartless ever even found it. For all we know, it looks completely different now than it did when he was last able to visit it."

"So we're on our own, huh?" Lea scratched his head. "Maybe someone should climb a tree to get a lay of the land."

He was joking, judging by his tone, but Riku wasn't sure that was such a bad idea. If there was a castle nearby, it was likely visible from above the treeline. Kairi was the smallest of them, and would be able to climb the highest with the least chance of breaking branches, but he wasn't sure he was willing to let her do that. Turning to shoot the idea down before she could volunteer, Riku gave a start when he realized Kairi was no longer standing beside him.

"Kairi?" Where had she gone? A lance of panic stabbed at his gut and he whirled. " _Kairi_?"

"Over here!" she called, standing up and waving her arm, and Riku heaved a sigh of relief.

"Sheesh, Kairi, don't just disappear like that," he said, shaking his head and jogging toward her. "What are you doing?"

"Shh, you'll scare it away!" she said, and then disappeared from sight again. Riku looked back to make sure Lea was following him (really, they were all going to wind up separated and lost if he didn't keep them together, they were like sheep!), then furrowed his brow curiously.

"Scare what?" he asked, approaching carefully.

She had crouched back down, huddled near the mossy forest floor, and that was when Riku saw it: a tiny blue light, like a floating flame, just hovering about a foot and a half above the ground. It flickered softly, little tendrils of glowing light beckoning at them, and Kairi giggled.

"Isn't it cute?" she asked, her voice hushed. "It's like a little fairy or something!"

"What is it?" Riku asked, and Lea stepped quietly up alongside them, his hands in his pockets and a befuddled look on his face.

"I don't know," Kairi said, rising slowly back to her feet, "but it looks like it wants us to follow it."

"Are we sure that it's a good idea to follow the inexplicable floating blue lights?" Lea asked, eyebrows arched, and Riku licked his lips.

"I'm not sure it's any less good of an idea than wandering aimlessly through the forest," he said. "If there are spirits in these woods or something, I'm sure they know their way around."

"But what makes you think they want to show _us_ the way around?" Lea pointed out, and Kairi gave them a pleading look.

"I don't think it wants to hurt us," she said, and then gestured toward the hovering light. "Look, it brought all its friends, see?"

As Riku looked back, his lips parted in surprise. Where there had been only one tiny blue light, there was now a line of them, leading away from the clearing and along a path that wound through the woods ahead of them. He watched the flame creatures' tiny arms waving, as if encouraging them to follow, and then he looked up at Lea.

"Well, we have two choices," he said: "we can either follow the little blue lights and see where they go... or we can try and make our own way having no idea where we're going." He shrugged one shoulder. "Should we put it to a vote?"

Lea shook his head. "I already know Kairi's vote. We can follow the lights," he said. "I just think we should stay on-guard."

"When am I ever _not_ on guard?" Riku asked with a snort of laughter, and Lea grinned, shaking his head.

"Touché."

And so they followed the little blue lights through the woods, climbing over fallen trees and hopping over a cold, clear creek; each time they got close to the nearest blue flame it winked out, as if extinguished by a stiff wind. The lights almost seemed to make a soft singing sound as they flickered out, like fingers run around the lip of a crystal glass, a patternless melody, ethereal and almost a little eerie amid the quiet of the forest air. They were never able to touch them, but the little lights remained in a line, leading them to whatever destination they had in mind for them. They walked for a good twenty minutes before they came upon a cottage set into a hillside. The roof was covered in grass and moss, such that it looked like a part of the hill itself, and the stones that were visible looked ancient and sturdy.

"Doesn't look much like a castle," Lea said, dusting his hands off and stuffing them into his pockets again. "Why do you think the little fairy guys brought us here?"

"Maybe whoever lives here knows how to get to the castle?" Kairi suggested, rubbing her arms a little, as though a chill had settled over her. Actually, come to think of it, the air did feel cooler suddenly. That was odd. Riku pulled at the back of his neck and surveyed the grounds of the little cottage, frowning.

"Well, there's smoke coming from the chimney," he pointed out, "so someone's home. I'm sure if the castle is nearby, we can get directions."

He didn't like this. He didn't like it one bit. Something was a little too _easy_ , and in Riku's experience, things that were easy were usually bad news. They had been dropped in the middle of the forest, and had just happened to be shown the way to a mysterious dwelling therein. Who lived here? What were they doing out in the middle of nowhere like this?

"Stay alert," he said quietly, hefting his knapsack and heading for the little wooden door. "I'm not sure what we're gonna find."

"Maybe _ghosts_ ," Lea said in a spooky voice, and Kairi giggled, swatting at him.

"You think ghosts keep a fire going?" she asked, and he thought for a moment.

"Well, _I_ would, if I were a ghost," he said, and she just giggled some more.

"Guys, focus," Riku said as he approached the door, reaching out to knock and then hesitating. The door was so small-it wasn't even as tall as he was. Whoever lived here, they must have been _tiny_.

That was when the door was yanked open abruptly, and he was greeted by a diminutive woman with a beehive of wild white hair and ears that looked a bit too large for her head. Riku jumped back, nearly colliding with Kairi, as the woman opened her arms and smiled toothily at them.

"Ah! I _thought_ I heard voices," she said, waving at them jovially and making a gesture for them to come inside. "Welcome to the Crafty Carver, where you'll find all the delightful, whimsical wood carvings you could ever need!" She waved at them again. "Come, come, come inside! There's a special today: buy one get one free!"

"Ah, we're not-"

"Nonsense," the woman said, wagging one bony finger at them before Riku even had the chance to say what they weren't. "At least come have a look-you've already come all this way."

"How do you know how far we've come?" he asked suspiciously, though he did follow the woman inside. She was just so insistent, it felt rude to stay out in the clearing. She certainly _looked_ harmless enough.

"I'm not exactly local to much of anything, dearie," the woman said, sort of shuffling back to where she was chipping away at a large hunk of wood that was vaguely bear-shaped.

… Actually, everything was vaguely bear-shaped. Or not so vaguely bear-shaped. Riku was pretty sure he'd never seen so many bear-shaped items in one place in his entire life.

"Got a thing for ah... bears, huh?" Lea asked, doubling forward to step inside behind Kairi. The cottage was so small he couldn't even straighten all the way up.

"Bears are amazing creatures," the woman said, "don't you think? They're strong and intelligent-far more intelligent than people give them credit for. I'd say some of them might just be as smart as people."

"I'm not sure about that," Lea said, hiding his amusement behind one hand.

Kairi reached out to touch a carving of a bear balanced on a ball, smiling softly.

"I think they're wonderful," she said. "This is really good work-do you do everything yourself?"

"Each and every piece is carved by hand," the woman said, turning her attention back to her work in progress. "Let me know if you see anything you like!"

"Actually, we're a bit lost," Riku said. "We're looking for Castle DunBroch?"

"Looking for a castle, this far in the woods?" the woman chuckled. "How _ever_ did you get so off track?"

"We were led here," Kairi said, "by some pretty little blue fairies."

"Kairi, shh," Riku said urgently. The last thing they needed was for this old woman to think they were crazy or something.

The woman's eyes lit up, though, and she turned toward them with a knowing smile.

"Ah, so the wisps brought you to me," she said, setting her carving tool down and steepling her fingers together. "I'm sorry, I'm not in the business of changing fates anymore; you'll have to figure that out on your own."

"Fate?" Lea echoed, glancing at the woman and then turning his attention back to a large black bird that was perched atop a particularly tall carving.

"Don't touch that," the woman said, "it's stuffed."

"Stuffed?" Kairi said. "It looks so-"

"Don't stare, it's rude!" the raven squawked, snapping at Lea, who yipped in alarm and recoiled, swearing colorfully under his breath as he cracked his head on the ceiling.

"Stuffed, my behind," he said sharply, rubbing the crown of his head with one hand.

That was when the puzzle pieces fell together in Riku's head: an old woman in a cottage far from anything, who had apparently been in the business of changing peoples' destinies... and had a _raven_? This woman was no woodcarver. This woman was a _witch_. His heart rate quickened and his hands grew a bit clammy as he nervously laced and unlaced his fingers together. Suddenly he really wanted to be anywhere but here, and he reached out to take Kairi by the elbow.

"Well, we should probably be on our way," he said stiffly, shaking his head a little when Kairi gave him a puzzled look.

"Leaving so soon?" the woman asked, and Lea looked a bit disappointed as well.

"I thought we were gonna buy a bear," he snickered. Thankfully, for all Lea had a short attention span and no apparent sense of delicacy, he picked up on things easily. The grin on his face fell almost instantly when he saw Riku's troubled expression, and he quickly replaced the carving he'd been looking at. "But I guess duty calls."

"Sorry for disturbing you, ma'am," Riku said; "we've really got to find the castle, so we'll be going now."

"Just head east," the old woman said, lifting her eyes from her carving work. "The castle is near the cliffs that overlook the sea, so if you keep going east, you'll find it."

"Thank you for showing us your lovely work!" Kairi called as Riku all but dragged her out of the cottage.

"Anytime, dearie! Tell your friends about the Crafty Carver!" the woman called as the raven fluttered across the cottage to sit on her shoulder.

Stuffed indeed.

Kairi stumbled a bit as Riku pulled her out of the cottage, and Lea ducked his head to avoid hitting it in the doorway as he followed. Straightening and putting his hands on the small of his back, Lea arched his spine with a grimace.

"Ugh, I've knocked my head on a few ceilings in my day," he said, "but that place takes the..."

He stopped short as he opened his eyes to look at Riku, freezing where he stood.

"… Cake," he concluded distractedly.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked, and that was when he realized: they weren't in the clearing anymore. They stood in the center of a circle of towering stones, at the edge of the very forest they had only a moment ago been in the thick of. "Weren't... we just..."

"In the middle of the woods?" Kairi finished for him, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

"Well, that wasn't really spooky or anything," Lea said, his hands still on his spine as a visible shudder crept through his shoulders. He glanced at Riku then. "So what happened, anyway?" he asked. "You looked like you were about to have a panic attack in there."

Riku finally released Kairi's elbow and wrung his hands. "Lea, haven't you figured it out?" he asked. "The cottage, the raven, the... appearing in a completely different place than where we were-she was a _witch_ , not a peddler."

Lea shrugged one shoulder. "And?" He shook his head. "Ain't a witch just a woman who can use magic? We can all use magic, too, you know."

"Witches are different," Riku insisted. "Sure, they can use the same magic we do, but they have an entirely other set of skills they can use. Witches... _conjure_ things, and use mind tricks. You heard what she said: they deal in changing peoples' _fates_. They're not something you wanna mess with."

"Was she really a witch?" Kairi looked a little uncomfortable, like she felt cheated somehow.

Riku nodded. "Believe me, I've... been around a few witches," he said. He could still feel Maleficent's skeletal fingers on his shoulders sometimes, still hear her perfect articulation as she whispered lies into his ears. He wrapped his arms around himself involuntarily, feeling that same eerie chill he'd felt when they'd approached the cottage. "She was definitely a witch."

"Whaddaya think she meant, though?" Lea asked, rubbing his head absently where he'd hit it against the ceiling of the cottage. "About changing fates?"

"It doesn't matter," he said, letting his arms fall back to his sides. "Let's just go find the castle, okay? We need to talk to Elinor about reopening the tracks to this world, so let's get going."

"She said go east," Kairi said, biting at her lower lip, "but do you think we can trust that?"

"I doubt she would bother to give bad directions," Riku admitted. "I wouldn't trust much out of a witch's mouth, but I don't think she realized I knew." He turned and shaded his eyes, looking up at the sky to judge the position of the sun. "It's getting late," he said; "we'd better get a move on. I don't know how far it is to the castle, and it's going to be dark soon. I'd rather not camp out here."

"Seconded," Lea said, still rubbing his head.

"East is this way," Riku said, giving Kairi's arm a tug and starting forward. "Come on."

And he headed out of the circle of stones toward the rapidly darkening eastern sky. Kairi's footsteps fell softly behind him, and after a moment without hearing Lea's follow, he paused and glanced back. Lea was still standing in the center of the circle, facing the woods, seemingly transfixed.

What in the worlds was he doing?

"Lea, come on," he called, and Lea gave a start.

"What?" He shook his head quickly, like he was trying to clear it, then sort of frowned at him. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Jogging to catch up, Lea fell into step behind them as they headed away from the woods. It was funny the way the woods had seemed so benign and welcoming, right up until they had arrived at the witch's cottage.

Now Riku couldn't quite shake the chill from his spine.

* * *

So I realized that when I reposted this, I forgot to add back the original note at the end of the first chapter. Since this site doesn't give you very much space for summaries and there's no tagging system, I was otherwise unable to indicate that this fic will eventually involve a multiship between the trio, so if that isn't your cuppa, this is your warning. The ship isn't intended to be the focus of the fic, not by a longshot, and there won't be anything explicit unless you opt to become a supporter on P a treon to read the future NSFW chapters, but it is something that will be continuing to develop as the story progresses, so this is just your heads up, if you haven't been following it since before I had to delete and repost thanks to an offensive spam review the admins refused to do anything about. My apologies for the delayed notice, and I hope you guys are enjoying the read!

Thanks so much to the people who have reviewed! Every review makes my whole day!


	15. Princess and Princess

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 1** **5** **:** **Princess and Princess**

 _In which Kairi has a lot to consider._

ミ

Castle DunBroch was a hale, hearty structure, with broad stone towers and a heavy perimeter wall. Kairi had been instantly enchanted with the friendliness of the people, and laughed freely at King Fergus' gesticulations as he regaled them with the history of the kingdom. He reminded her a bit of Lea, actually, the way he moved his arms with gusto and spoke with his whole body. The queen had had to shush him several times in order to announce that there would be a feast in honor of their guests—let it never be said that Clan DunBroch did not treat visitors well. Kairi was utterly delighted with this place, and before the evening was half over she had already decided this mission was a rousing success. Elinor was beautiful and graceful, and the discussion on reopening the train route was had with relative ease. She was so proud of Riku for not even balking this time, he had really come a long way since their first mission—he'd hardly fumbled at all! And there had only been minimal spluttering when Elinor invited the three of them stay the night in the castle. He had insisted it was only all right because they would never find the spot in the forest in the dark in the rain, but Kairi had a sneaking suspicion he was actually just learning to be okay with the idea of accepting the hospitality of others. That was a big step for him.

Kairi had quickly hit it off with Merida, who was about as unorthodox a princess as she was. Fascinated by Merida's tale of the time her mother was turned into a bear, Kairi had eagerly followed her around, to the stables to meet her horse Angus, through the kitchens, and she was content to listen to her feats of danger and daring well into the evening. She wished _she_ could have had such grand adventures, climbing cliffsides and exploring the depths of the forest. Merida, for one, seemed elated to have someone else her age around, and had been more than happy to entertain Kairi over the course of the day.

"Here, one second," Merida said, and Kairi twisted to try and look at the laces that ran down the back of the dress. Merida gave them a tug and tied a neat bow, then spun Kairi to face her. "There ye go, all done."

"I feel like a _real_ princess," Kairi said gleefully, twirling to watch the shiny dark green fabric swirl around her ankles. "This gown is so beautiful."

"Ye can have it if ye like," Merida said casually, and Kairi's jaw slid open.

"Seriously?" she asked, gathering the front of the dress and hopping up onto the bed in the room she'd been afforded for the evening. It was more than twice the size of her bedroom back home!

"Sure, sure," Merida said, waving one hand. "I have dozens. That one's a little too fancy for my taste anyway." She smiled. "It looks great on ye."

Kairi blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you," she said. "I promise I'll take extra good care of it."

"Ehh, ye won't have to try _too_ hard, it's pretty sturdy," Merida said with a laugh. "I'm not exactly easy on my clothes; mum gets on my case about it a lot."

She adjusted the gown where she sat then, draping it over her knees and giving Merida a curious look. "By the way, how come your mother had us speak to her about the routes between worlds without the king?" she asked. Elinor had pulled them aside almost as soon as she'd met them; Kairi had figured their clothes were what gave them away, but she wasn't sure why she'd been so insistent on talking to them in private. "Isn't he interested in these sorts of things, too?" She couldn't quite imagine a king _not_ being concerned with the security of his world, especially a friendly, jovial one like Fergus.

"My dad doesn't believe in magic," Merida said with a grin. "He believes in things he can see and touch, things he can explain with broad gestures and loud words." She shook her head, her mane of curls brushing against her face gently. "He has no idea that our world is just one thread in a much larger tapestry."

"So the queen takes care of everything by herself?" Kairi looked impressed. "That seems like a lot of work for just one person. Is she all right with that?"

"I think she likes it better that way." Merida tucked her legs up beneath her dress, gripping her ankles as she looked thoughtful for a moment. "She's very independent, and has her own way of doing things... I think she thinks my dad is too silly to be trusted with something so serious." She chuckled then. "He's very good at what he does—he's strong as an ox and definitely knows how to win wars," she said, "but he doesn't really have a handle on the politics of running a kingdom." She smiled fondly, putting her chin in one hand. "So, my mum balances him out well. He keeps us safe, and she keeps the peace."

"That's a really good partnership," Kairi said, and Merida nodded.

"I didn't really appreciate it for a long time," she admitted. "I thought my mum was just kind of a curmudgeon, always so serious and having t'have things her way, but I understand her a lot more now." She shook her head again. "When she trusted me with the knowledge that there are many other worlds, something so important... That was when I knew our relationship had truly changed."

Kairi smiled broadly. She didn't remember her parents, or where she had come from, but if there was one thing she understood well, it was the bonds between people who loved one another. No relationship was perfect, each and every one had its weak points, but when people really learned to understand one another, nothing could tear them apart. She was glad Merida had found that with her mother.

"I can only hope I'll be as good at it one day as she is," Merida said, and gave Kairi a curious smile then. "So," she said, leaning forward, "while we're on the subject of partnerships, tell me about yer lads."

"My _lads_?" Kairi sat up a little straighter, not quite sure what to say to this.

"Yes, Lea and Riku," Merida said with a grin. "They seem like good boys."

"They are!" Kairi said quickly. Of _course_ they were good boys! Even when Axel had kidnapped her, she had quickly come to realize that he wasn't _bad_. Why would she hang out with anyone who wasn't good? "They both take this work pretty seriously, after all; of _course_ they're good."

"Ye're friends, though, right?" Merida asked. "I mean, ye're not just working together, it's definitely more than that."

Kairi looked a little abashed, as if Merida had uncovered a secret, and she ducked her head.

"I've known Riku since we were little," Kairi said. "He's more than just my teacher, you're right. Him and our other friend Sora, we've been best friends for as long as I can remember. We always did everything together, but recently Riku's... gotten into this troublesome habit of trying to do everything by himself." She fiddled with her hair again, twisting a lock between her fingers. "He works really hard, and that's why I want to make sure I'm a good student: when the time comes to protect all the worlds from Darkness, I want to do this _with_ him. I don't want to be left behind anymore, I don't want to be a burden."

"Sounds like it won't be easy," Merida appraised after a pause. "I'd like t'see these Keyblades of yers sometime. I've seen the way my dad handles a sword, but something tells me they're not yer typical weapon."

"Not at all," Kairi said, smiling. "I'm sure we could arrange for something, though. I bet if you asked, Riku would spar with you."

"Swords aren't really my thing," she replied, "but maybe you two could give me and mum a demonstration." She plunked her chin down in her hands then. "Ye haven't told me about Lea yet," Merida idly reminded her then, and Kairi pressed her lips together.

"I haven't known Lea very long," she admitted, "so I'm still getting to know him. In fact, the first time we met, I thought he was a real jerk."

Merida laughed. "He's changed yer mind since?" she asked.

"Mostly," Kairi said. "He's still kind of a jerk, but he's definitely not the way I thought he'd be."

"He doesn't seem so bad. He was really polite with mum," Merida said.

"He's not bad at all, really," Kairi said, hiding amusement behind one hand, "he just wants people to think he is. He keeps things to himself, you know? He and Riku have that in common, actually; he doesn't like anybody to see when he's hurt or sad. He worries about things a lot more than he wants to admit, and I think he doesn't really know how to accept that about himself, so he lashes out sometimes." She lowered her eyes. "I didn't realize that quite soon enough, I think."

She was a little ashamed about that, actually. Kairi prided herself on _understanding_ people, but when Axel had kidnapped her, she hadn't extended him any benefit of doubt. Even when he'd tried (albeit clumsily) to explain himself, saying they both missed someone they cared about, she had been too afraid to really try and see things from his side. He shouldn't have kidnapped her in the first place, but she knew that he hadn't done it with intent to harm her. She knew that he would never hurt her now—he had promised to have her back, and she believed him. He had changed for the better, and had won that trust she had dared him to earn.

"Sometimes we don't really understand the people we love until we're forced to see things from their side," Merida said.

Love? Kairi looked thoughtful for a moment. She could say without hesitation that she loved Riku, but that was something that had been built up between them over the years. She hadn't known Lea long, but he had become very important to her. Love, though? She didn't know about that. In the few months they'd been working together, she had seen a side of him she had never expected to find: he was perceptive and generous and surprisingly sincere. She cared about him a great deal, but she wasn't sure how to define her feelings. There were many different kinds of love, that she knew for certain, and the love she felt for Riku was different even than the love she felt for Sora, but was what she felt for Lea _love_? How was she supposed to tell? Ugh, feelings were so confusing.

"I'm still learning a lot about my mum, but it takes work," Merida said, and Kairi shook her head quickly to clear it. Merida lowered her voice a little, cupping one hand beside her mouth. "She still drives me a bit crazy sometimes, but don't tell her I said that."

Kairi laughed. "I won't breathe a word, I promise." She shook her head. She could work on figuring out her feelings later. right now she just wanted to enjoy being a helpful part of this team. "I think I have a lot to learn about both of them, really," she said then. "I may have known Riku for a long time, but he's good at keeping secrets. Neither of them like to actually talk about themselves, so it's a lot of reading between the lines."

Merida chuckled. "Pesky things, lines."

Kairi leaned back on her hands, staring up at the canopy over the bed for a long moment. She really did want to get to know them both better. Though she knew Riku well enough to read into his actions, there was still a lot about him that she couldn't quite understand. He held everything in, kept it all tucked away inside his vest, like exposure to the outside air might give away the fact that he was fallible and only human, like maybe if he hid his flaws they would go away. She wanted to see those flaws, wanted to hold them in her hands and tell Riku that it was okay, that he was still her best friend even if he wasn't perfect, and nothing would ever change that.

A rap at the door startled her out of contemplation, and she jumped, sitting up straight.

"Kairi?" Riku's voice came urgent and worried through the door. "Kairi, are you in there?"

Kairi hopped down off the bed and hustled to the door, pulling it open. "Riku?" His face was blanched, his brow creased. Something had him really on edge and Kairi was instantly worried. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Riku blinked at her, seemingly surprised by the dress, and his face flushed a little. He glanced past her into the room. "Is Lea with you?" he asked, and then ducked his head as spotted Merida. "Oh... princess, I'm sorry, I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"Ye're fine, we were just havin' a gob," Merida said, sliding down off the bed to approach them in the doorway. "What's going on?"

"The door to Lea's room was open," he said, his eyes bright with concern, "so I looked in to make sure everything was all right, but he wasn't there."

"Not there?" Merida echoed, looking puzzled. "But... where would he go?"

Kairi wondered the same thing. They had all been given the grand tour of the castle, so it wasn't likely he was off exploring unvisited corridors. Honestly, she had figured he would just go and nap, like he always said he liked so much to do. For a guy who claimed to enjoy sleeping a lot, he didn't seem to do all that much of it.

"I don't _know_ where he went," Riku said, fidgeting with his hands a bit, "and that's why I'm worried. Is it just me, or did he seem a little... off, all evening?"

"It's not just you," Kairi said. "He seemed really distracted. I thought maybe he was just tired, but..."

Distracted wasn't like him at all. If Kairi had noticed anything about Lea, it was that he was very observant; he always seemed to take special notice of everything in a room, like he was taking inventory. It was as though he had to know every exit and every nuance before he could relax, and in a way she understood that, but seeing him preoccupied and troubled had been odd. She hadn't given it too much thought, figuring perhaps he had just missed a nap or two. When they had been told during dinner that they were welcome to stay the night in any of the castle's many guest rooms, he had excused himself after the final course, and she had presumed he'd gone to his room to sleep.

Something clicked somewhere in the back of her mind, and Kairi reached out to take Riku's hand.

"Riku, you don't think he went back to the forest, do you?" she asked, and Riku furrowed his brow.

"The forest?" he asked. "Why would he go there?"

"Don't you remember?" she said, glancing toward the window. "When we wound up in that clearing, with the big stones, he kept looking back toward the woods, like there was something there we couldn't see." She tightened her fingers around his hand. "Riku, what if he went to find that witch?"

"Witch?" Merida brought both hands to her face. "Ye saw the witch? The one in the forest? She's the one what turned my mum into a bear! _Tell_ me ye didn't talk to her."

Riku shook his head. "No, not really," he said. "We were led to her cottage by—"

"By the wisps!" Merida tugged at her hair and groaned. "Oh, no, what did she say to ye?"

"She tried to sell us wood carvings," Kairi said; "we didn't realize she was a witch until Riku connected the dots, and then we got out of there real fast."

"You're right, though," Riku said, pressing a knuckle to his chin, "that is about the time when I first noticed Lea seemed out of sorts. Do you really think he would go back to the witch, though? I _told_ you guys witches were bad news."

"She said something about changing fate," Kairi said, glancing at Merida. "Do you know what that means?"

Merida groaned again. "Aye, she'll change yer fate all right," she said. "She'll curse ye for life if ye're not careful."

"Riku, we have to go look for him," Kairi said. "You _know_ he's still unsure about his skill with the Keyblade. He's still hung up on whether or not he's even good enough to be a _good_ guy. If he thinks that witch can change his fate..."

"He might wind up biting off more than he can chew," Riku concluded, setting his jaw.

"Legend says that a will'o the wisp can lead ye to the fate that is laid out for ye," Merida told them grimly. "If the wisps led ye to the witch, like they did me, then Lea could be setting himself up for a world of trouble."

"You're right," Riku said, and then looked at Kairi. "We have to go find him."

"But it's dark now," Kairi said, rubbing her arms as though she'd caught a sudden chill, "and it started raining after dinner. How will we ever even _find_ him?"

"If he's got a head start on ye, ye'll be wantin' a horse," Merida said, grabbing the door and heading out into the hall. "Can ye ride?"

"I know how, but it's been a while," Riku said, and Merida nodded.

"Come on, then, ye can take Angus," she said. "He's strong enough to carry both of ye, and he knows the way to the circle of stones. He'll get ye to the circle right quick, even in the dark. If Lea went on foot, he'll be a while to get there, ye should still be able to catch him before he hits the woods."

"Wait, just us?" Kairi gave Merida a puzzled look, and the princess smiled kindly.

"Ye said it yerself, that he doesn't like anyone to see him hurt or upset," she said. "I hardly think he'd want a stranger there when ye go to get him back." She clapped both of them on the shoulder. "Angus will treat ye right and get ye there fast; go and find yer friend, and I'll be here waitin' to make sure ye get back all right."

Kairi hugged Merida tightly around the neck. "Thank you," she said softly as she pulled back.

"Yes, thank you," Riku said with a nod, stepping aside as Merida swept past him, her skirts whispering in the empty hallway. "We'll owe you one."

"Ye'll owe me none," Merida said. "I made the mistake of trusting that witch once, and I nearly lost my mum for it. I can't just stand by and watch someone else make the same mistake I did. Come on, to the stables," she called over her shoulder, hiking up her dress and picking up her pace. "There's no time to waste, not when witches and wisps are involved!"

Kairi exchanged a quick, worried glance with Riku, then hiked up her own dress and hurried after Merida. She only hoped they would find Lea before Lea found the witch and made a huge mistake they would _all_ wind up paying for.

* * *

 **Hi and then I forgot to continue crossposting this fic for like a year SORRY _**


	16. Stronger Together

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 1** **6** **:** **Stronger Together**

 _In which Lea finds himself not so alone as he thought._

ミ

Despite his element of choice, Lea had never really had any aversion to water. Though Radiant Garden hadn't had any significant bodies of water within the walls, he was a strong swimmer, and he'd quickly found an appreciation for the ocean.

The rain that fell over the kingdom of DunBroch that night, however, was starting to get on his nerves. It fell in sheets, driven by a chilly wind that made it hard to see what was in front of him. He wasn't sure umbrellas had been invented yet on this world, but one wouldn't have done him much good, anyway; it would have turned inside out in no time. The weather had been so nice, earlier—what had happened?

It didn't matter. It was what it was, and he knew if he didn't do this now he wasn't going to get the chance. He had to go back to the cottage in the woods, he had to talk to that witch, and he had to do it while Riku and Kairi were otherwise occupied. Lea knew all too well that Riku had had a bad experience with Maleficent. The Organization had kept detailed notes on both him and Sora, after all. Maleficent had toyed with his head and filled it with lies, and Lea could appreciate Riku's apprehension—really, he could!—but this was a completely different situation. Lea wasn't going to put himself in a position to be taken advantage of; all he was going to do was ask for a little of that fate-changing magic she'd seemed so reluctant to discuss.

It didn't matter that she'd said she didn't do that anymore. He could be very persuasive when he put his mind to it.

He tugged the hood of his coat up over his head, trying to block out some of the rain, and a shiver crawled up his spine as the water that had collected in the hood spilled down his back.

"Light _dammit_ anyway," he snarled, hunching his shoulders and plodding forward. Ugh, this had better have been worth it. If witches were powerful enough to change people's lives so drastically, then it _had_ to be worth it, right? This was the only way.

The circle of stones loomed in the distance, and Lea breathed a sigh of relief. At least he'd been going in the right direction. In the rain, it was hard to tell which way was _up_! Picking up his pace a little, he jogged down the soggy, muddy road, his hood pulled down over his ears and his hair plastered against his forehead. As he stepped into the circle, he could have sworn the rain lightened a bit, a hush falling over the earth as the wind seemed to quiet. The grass was plush and thick, soft beneath his boots, and the stones rose away from the earth like great shadows cast by figures the eye couldn't see. Beyond the stones, the woods stood dark and ominous, silent but for the hiss of the rain against the trees. It was so _dark_ , he could hardly see, and a lance of anxiety spiked in his gut.

No, he couldn't chicken out now. He had to do this. It was the _only_ way.

"All right, where are you, you little blue fairy lights?" he asked aloud, turning in a slow circle, looking for the strange little creatures that had led them to the witch earlier that day. "Come on, I need your help."

He would never find the cottage on his own. Lea had a pretty good sense of direction, but they'd been spilled out into the circle without actually going _through_ the woods: backtracking wasn't going to be possible. Turning around again, he cast his eyes toward the woods and set his jaw.

"Where are you?" he demanded, a little more loudly this time. "Don't leave me hangin' here, come on! I came all the way out here in this awful weather, and you're just gonna bail?"

Didn't it just _figure_!? Lea knew that when it came to close calls and second chances, he was about as lucky as anyone could get, but as far as actual luck stats went, he was barely passing. He had lost his home, his heart, and all three of his best friends— Wait, three? That wasn't right, why had he thought three? He had lost his two best friends, and the only reason he'd gotten his heart _back_ was because he'd _died_. If that wasn't a statement to just how much went his way then he didn't know what was.

There was a flicker of lightning in the corner of his eye, but the storm was still several miles away; the quiet thunder that rumbled across the sky moments later was barely audible. Lea scowled; he almost _wanted_ the lightning, the thunder, to go with the fierce wind and the buckets of rain. It felt too peaceful without it! He was exasperated and a little afraid, actually, and the quiet calm of the rain, even as it fell hard and cold, was almost dissonant against the tangle of snarled thoughts in his head.

He _had_ to go through with this! It wouldn't work otherwise, he _knew_ it wouldn't. He wasn't strong enough to make it work, but the magic of a witch could fix that. Fate couldn't stand in his way forever.

Another soft growl of thunder rolled through the distant sky, and as Lea turned back toward the woods again, he spotted it: a glimmer of blue at the edge of the circle.

" _There_ you are," he said, swiping his sopping wet hair off his forehead and watching as the line of little blue flames formed behind the first one, leading deep into the forest and out of sight. "I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Closing his hands into fists, Lea squared his shoulders. He had one shot at this, and he wasn't going to waste it. Crossing the clearing in the center of the circle, Lea approached the little blue light, watching as it beckoned at him, its little fiery arms reaching for him. He lifted his eyes to look down the line of blue lights, squinting through the rain to try and see where they led, but the dark was too thick, the woods too obscured. His heart pounding in his chest, Lea took a deep breath and held it a moment, then exhaled.

It was now or never.

He reached out with one hand, as if to touch the tiny blue flame.

" _Lea_!"

Riku's voice cut through the rain and wind and hit him like a kick to the knees. Recoiling sharply and turning around all in one motion, Lea watched in something like bafflement as a horse appeared at the edge of the circle, its hooves sliding over the wet ground, Riku's silver hair like a beacon of light against the blackness of the night.

"Lea, _stop_ , don't do this!" Riku shouted, pulling on the reins and reaching forward to pat the side of the horse's neck as it shifted its feet nervously.

Lea narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"Go back to the castle, Riku," he said. "This doesn't concern you."

"It concerns _both_ of us," Kairi piped up, and Lea brought a hand to his face. Great, he'd brought Kairi, too? "Lea, you're our friend, and we're not just going to let you run off and do something dangerous like this."

He sliced his hand through the air, frustrated. "Do you guys think I'm _stupid_?" he asked. "I'm not gonna go sell my soul or anything—I know what I'm doing."

"Everyone thinks they know what they're doing," Riku said, swinging his leg over the horse's side and dropping to the ground, "and by the time they realize they messed up, it's too late."

"Well aren't you just the voice of experience," Lea grumbled, curling his lip a little. "Look, I don't need you to tell me about mistakes, okay? I've made enough of my own to know one when I see one."

"Do you?" Riku pulled at his jacket, like maybe it would help shield him from the rain, and then shook his head. "Lea, no matter what you think you know, or how important you think this is, it isn't worth getting involved with a _witch_."

He held Riku's gaze for a long moment, then glanced up when movement caught his eye. Watching as Kairi slid down from the horse's back as well, Lea sighed.

"You're both getting drenched," he said, "and exactly none of this is going to change my mind."

"Lea, you _don't_ have to do this," Kairi said, hiking up her rain-heavy dress and moving behind Riku. "You don't _need_ a witch to change your fate—you've already changed it!" She gestured at him, her bright blue eyes wide and worried. "You're one of us now; your fate has _been_ changed."

Lea gawped at her a moment, then he just threw his head back and _laughed_. It was a loud, caustic sound, not at all like his usual friendly laughter, and it echoed almost eerily off the trees. Was that really what they thought? They thought he was going to see the witch about him _self_? Kairi was right, he _had_ already changed his fate, and he had every intention of maintaining that, but he still needed the witch's help. Did they really not see it?

"I'm not here to change _my_ fate," he said. His voice was sharp, brassy over the rain. "It's not _my_ fate I'm worried about. I'm still in control of my own destiny, I know that. It's _Isa's_ fate I'm here to change. Isa's, Roxas', Naminé's..." He inhaled as if to speak another name, then balked. There it was again! It was like there was something perpetually perched on the tip of his tongue! What did it mean?

Shaking his head, he turned to look at the little blue flames that led into the woods, at their tiny arms, beckoning him to follow them.

"They're the ones who need help," he said, his voice softer now. "They can't change their own fates anymore, and I..." He shook his head again. "I don't know how else to help them."

There was a beat of silence, and then he heard Riku take a step closer. "Lea..."

"I don't know how to save them, okay?" He turned over his shoulder and gave Riku the harshest glare he could muster. "I'm not a hero like you are, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. If I blow it, they don't _get_ another chance, so I can't take that risk."

"Lea, that isn't—"

He whirled on him, his eyes flashing angrily.

"Isn't _what_ , Riku?" he demanded. "That isn't what? Isn't worth it? Isn't my responsibility? I don't wanna hear it."

Lea rarely lost his temper, but if there was one thing that put him over the edge, it was what was or was not his _responsibility_ when it came to a certain circle of people. Isa, Roxas, Naminé, they _were_ his responsibility. If he had just been stronger, paid more attention, if he'd just _listened_ instead of thinking he knew better, they might _all_ have still been here, been safe. He might not have had to lose _any_ of them, if he'd just been a better _person_ , and it vexed him. It would continue to vex him until he'd set things right, and this was his best chance to do just that.

"Roxas deserves a second chance a helluva lot more than I do," he said, baring his teeth, "and I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to give it to him."

"This isn't the way to go about it, Lea," Kairi said, and Lea's eyes found her in the darkness. Her dress was weighted down with the rain and her hair clung to her neck, making her look smaller than she was. "There has to be another way."

"There _is_ no other way," he snarled, shaking his head. "They're _my_ responsibility. I have to save them, and I don't know how. What if I can't do it?" He looked back to the blue fairy flames then, turning his back to Riku and Kairi. "What if I'm not strong enough to save them alone?"

"You're not _alone_!"

Kairi's words crashed into him like the rain, striking his ears and then running through his whole body before he turned, slowly, to give her a look that teetered between suspicion and desperation. She'd brought her hands up near her heart, her fingers clasped together and her eyes wide and sad.

"Do you really still think you're all alone?" she asked. "Lea, I know you were all by yourself when you were in the Organization. We _both_ know that, but you're _not_ anymore! You have both of us, me and Riku! And Sora, and Donald, and Goofy, the King, even Master Yen Sid. We're all here to help you now, but you never want to _let_ us." She reached for his hand. "We want to help you, Lea, but we can't if you won't let us. Don't you understand that?"

The rain peppered against his hood, and the noise was too loud. It hurt his ears. Reaching up and tugging the hood back, Lea let the rain spill down the sides of his face as Kairi's words echoed in his head.

He really wasn't alone after all, was he? Every time he'd felt isolated or lost, even though he'd learned how not to show it anymore, they'd been there. Kairi and Riku had _been there_ , with smiles and outstretched hands. They had been there with sincerity he still could barely muster himself, with words he still didn't know how to say. They had taught him so much more than just Keyblade forms, and he _knew_ that. Was he really so quick to just throw it all away?

He'd screwed up so badly, though. He'd just stood by and watched as Saïx pulled away from him. He'd _driven_ the wedge between himself and Roxas. Lea wasn't sure he even knew _how_ to really have friends anymore; he just kept messing up every time he did. He was tired of everything being his fault, tired of being the reason things went wrong. Wasn't it easier to be alone? Didn't it hurt less?

No. It hurt _more_. It hurt more than he had words for, and he didn't even have the excuse that he couldn't feel it to get him through it anymore. He _wanted_ Kairi and Riku to be his friends, he _wanted_ to lean on them, because he was so _tired_ of having to stand tall and strong by himself. It was exhausting to be fine all the time, especially when you knew you _weren't_ fine. He had spent ten years being a single pillar, though; how was he supposed to know how to redistribute the weight now?

They would help him, wouldn't they? Riku and Kairi, they weren't going to turn away from him when things got difficult, he _knew_ that, so why did he keep digging his heels in?

Lea hesitated, looking at Kairi's hand and then her face, and then he glanced at Riku. Riku just smiled faintly and nodded his head. Taking a deep breath and holding it a moment, Lea held his hand out, letting it hover near Kairi's a moment. Kairi took the initiative then, closing both of her hands around his and pulling it down gently.

"You don't have to do this by yourself," she said quietly, her voice almost too soft to hear over the rain. "We want to save them too, so let's do this together, okay?"

His shoulders had tensed up at her touch, but he forced them to relax a little. There was no reason to be apprehensive about this, was there? They had been nothing but kind and helpful to him—they wouldn't let him down. They _wouldn't_. Any more than he was willing to let _them_ down.

"You're strong, Lea," Riku said, reaching out and put one hand over Kairi's where they were both wrapped around Lea's, "but we're all stronger together."

Lea frowned. His hand was _freezing_. He'd really made things hard for them tonight, hadn't he? He'd been stupid and rash; he'd done exactly what he'd said he wasn't doing to do anymore: he thought he'd known better, and he hadn't _listened_.

He nodded. "Okay," he said, unable to meet their eyes. "Yeah, I... okay. Okay." He hesitated, then glanced up, looking from Riku to Kairi and back before lowering his eyes again. "Let's... let's go back to the castle," he said, frowning as he gently tugged his hand free of Kairi's. "This isn't good weather to take long walks."

"Couldn't agree more," Riku said, rubbing his arms and then glancing back at the horse at the edge of the circle. "I don't know if Angus can carry three, though..."

Lea shook his head. "It's fine," he said; "I walked here, I can walk back. You two go on ahead—"

"Not a chance," they both said in tandem, and Lea gave a start, and then laughed softly.

"I promise I'm not just trying to get rid of you," he said, and Riku shook his head.

"We told you: you're not alone anymore," he said, "and we mean it. If you're walking back, we're walking with you. Come on."

Lea just stood stock still for a moment as Riku turned and headed toward the horse, reaching up and swinging the reins around so he could lead it on foot. Kairi just hiked up her dress and followed, and Lea managed a thin smile.

"Come on, Lea," Kairi called, waving her hand at him. "Let's go!"

He tugged his hood back up and jogged over to meet them, and they walked the rainswept road back to the castle in companionable silence. Kairi reached out and snatched his wrist in one hand somewhere along the way, like she was making sure he didn't decide to stray off the road back to the castle, and Lea just let her hold his arm the whole way. He didn't know what he'd done right to deserve people like this in his life, but he was glad he'd done it, whatever it was.

* * *

normally i wouldn't post another chapter so fast, but i wanted to say thanks to those of you who have reviewed, and particular thanks to Numinous Scribe for their in-depth thoughts! since you were logged in as a guest i couldn't PM you to thank you personally, so i hope this will do. i didn't even see that missed capital letter before, i guess that's what happens when you've been staring at a document as long as i have, LMAO. i know i can get a little comma-happy, i've been working on those run-on sentences. if you can believe it, this chapter was originally posted on AO3 back in 2014, so i'd like to think my writing has improved a bit since then. i hope you'll let me know! thank you again!


	17. Under the Weather

.

* * *

 **Dance While You Can**

* * *

 **Chapter 1** **7** **:** **Under the Weather**

 _In which Lea and Riku strike a bargain._

ミ

Riku awoke to a knock at the door, and immediately wished he hadn't woken up. Ugh, he felt _awful_! His throat was sore, his head ached horribly, and it felt like he'd managed to stuff a bunch of cottonballs up his nose and into his brain. He sort of groaned, pressing his hand against his forehead.

Great, this was _just_ what he needed.

There was another knock at the door.

"Riku, are you in there?" came Lea's voice from the other side, and Riku scrubbed at one eye socket with the heel of his hand.

"Yeah?" He tossed the blankets on the bed aside and swung his legs over the edge of the mattress. Why was it so _cold_ in here? "What's up?"

"Are you okay?" Lea sounded worried, and Riku just made a bit of a face.

"I'm fine," he said, puzzled. "You can come in, it's not locked or anything."

The door creaked open and Lea poked his head in, frowning. He sort of squinted at Riku a moment, like he was looking for a spelling mistake, and then stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"What's the matter?" Riku asked, shaking his head. "You look like you didn't expect me to be here."

"It's after ten," Lea said; "I just expected you to be up and about like two hours ago."

"After _ten_?" Riku's voice became a croak and he coughed into one hand, then gave Lea a startled look. "Are you serious?"

Lea narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I'm serious," he said. "I didn't see you down in the hall or anything, so I figured I'd come make sure nothing had happened."

Riku shook his head. "No, nothing happened," he said, hunching his shoulders a bit, half in embarrassment and half because he was _cold_. "I guess I just lost track of time."

"You should try sleeping in more often," Lea chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. "You might find you like it."

"Where's Kairi?" Riku asked, changing the subject, and Lea shrugged one shoulder.

"The princess ran off with her earlier this morning," he said. "Something about a waterfall?"

"If she's with Merida I'm sure she's safe," Riku said, relaxing a little. Even if he felt utterly lousy, he could never quite turn off that danger sense. He worried about Kairi a lot, and not knowing where she was gave him anxiety like little else could. He glanced back up at Lea, tilting his head a little. "Something tells me there's more to this visit than just teasing me for oversleeping," he said, and Lea looked a little flustered.

"A-actually..." He pulled at the back of his neck and leaned against one of the posts of the bed. "I, ah... I wanted to say thanks," he said, "for what you and Kairi did. You know, last night." He met Riku's eye briefly, then glanced away. "It's been a long time since I felt like my absence wouldn't go unnoticed, you know? So... I really, ah... appreciate it." He rolled one shoulder back, fidgeting. "S-sorry I was so much trouble."

Riku smiled a little. Lea obviously didn't have much experience in saying please and thank you, and even less saying he was sorry, but he was trying, and that counted for so much.

"You don't have to apologize," he said, clearing his throat. "I'm just glad we found you in time."

"Well, I'm grateful, okay?" He almost sounded sullen, like saying thanks was a chore, and Riku chuckled.

"Friends do that sort of thing." He glanced at him, scooting back on the mattress and folding his legs up. "I know how much you want to save Roxas and Isa," he said. "You don't have to do it all by yourself, though; isn't it better to get help from your friends instead of a witch?"

Lea looked uncomfortable, then shrugged one shoulder.

"In theory," he said noncommittally, and Riku kind of laughed.

"I guess that's better than 'no'." He braced his hands on his knees. "It's fine, really," he said. "You said you'd bail me out if the Darkness got me, remember? It's only fair to return the favor."

Lea just pulled at the back of his neck some more. "I guess so," he muttered. "I just thought... if I could just change what had happened, maybe they'd be better off anyway, you know?"

"You can't change the past, Lea," Riku said, shaking his head. "I'm not even sure a _witch_ can do that. You've seen what Xehanort's messing with time can do: it's destructive, dark magic, and even if it's for a _good_ cause it's not something you want to—" He turned away and sneezed into the crook of his arm, shook his head and scrubbed at his face, then sneezed again. "Not something you want to mess with," he concluded in a scratchy voice. Ugh, that had hurt.

Lea's eyes were narrow again, and Riku fidgeted.

"What?" he asked. "S... someone's just got a lot to say about me today, right?" Wasn't that what Lea had said about sneezing?

Lea pushed away from the bed and closed the distance between them in two long strides.

"That's not gossip," he said, reaching out with one arm, and Riku quailed. What in the worlds was he doing? "It ain't allergies, either—you're sick." That was when Lea's palm met Riku's forehead, and the older man made a sibilant noise. "You were out in the rain last night chasing me down, and now you're sick."

"It's not a big deal," Riku insisted, swatting at Lea's hand and leaning away from him. Of _course_ he hadn't been about to hit him; Lea wouldn't _hit_ him, right? Why had he flinched? "I get sick real easily anyway."

"That doesn't make it _okay_ ," Lea said, shaking his head hopelessly and then he glanced down at Riku's clothes. "Did you seriously sleep in your rainsoaked clothes?" he asked then, and Riku glowered.

"I didn't have anything else!" he said sharply. "I can't just sleep in my underwear—I don't even do that at home!"

Lea palmed his face. "You have your _own room_ , you lunkhead," he said. "It's not like anybody would have _seen_ you. No wonder you got sick, sleeping in soaking wet clothes in this drafty old castle."

"Well ex _cuse me_ , Dr. Lea," Riku said, folding his arms with a harrumph. "I didn't realize you were giving out free medical advice along with your Darkness rescues." He coughed roughly into his shoulder and shook his head. "It isn't a big deal, okay? I'm used to it."

"That still doesn't make it _okay_ ," Lea said, waving a hand. "You've got a _fever_."

"Look, just don't tell Kairi, okay?"

Lea _stared_ at him, like maybe he had turned purple.

"I'm telling you you're running a fever, and your first instinct is 'don't tell my best friend'?" Lea threw both hands in the air. "I don't understand you at all sometimes."

"She'll just worry," Riku said, lacing and unlacing his fingers together. "I can't do anything about it anyway, right? It's just gotta run its course, so worrying Kairi about it won't help."

"Fine," Lea said, wagging a finger at him, "I won't tell her, on _one_ condition."

Oh, Light, this was not going to be fun.

"What condition?" Riku asked, swatting at Lea's hand again.

"You take it easy." Lea folded his arms over his chest. "Kairi's out all day," he said, "so _sleep_ or something."

"Sleep?" Riku shook his head. "You make it sound so _easy_."

"Fine, just _rest_ , then," Lea said, shaking his head. "I'll come tell you when she and Merida get back—she won't know a thing, okay?"

"Why are you so hung up on this?" Riku asked, frowning. "I told you, it's no big deal. I get sick sometimes, so what?"

"So it's my _fault_ ," Lea said, glowering at him. "If I'd just had my head screwed on right, you and Kairi wouldn't have had'a go out in the rain after me in the first place. I was stupid, and now you're the one paying for it, and that ain't okay."

Riku was quiet for a moment, just looking kind of confused. How was this Lea's fault? Lea wasn't the reason he had a shoddy immune system. This had happened because he just got sick too easily; it was bound to happen sooner or later anyway, right? Why was Lea even trying to take responsibility for it?

He shook his head. "I don't get you," he said. "This isn't your fault at all, I was probably due for a cold anyway."

" _Due_?" Lea boggled at him. "Your health isn't _the weather_ , Riku; nobody's ever _due_ to get sick." He made a frustrated noise, then held up one hand, three fingers lifted. "Three days," he said, and Riku tilted his head.

"What?"

"When we go back to the islands," he said, "you're gonna take three days off and just relax."

"Three _days_?" Riku looked appalled. He wasn't sure how he was going to relax for three _hours_ , let alone three days! "Lea, I can't—"

"No missions, no training, just you taking it easy," he interrupted, and then stuck his hand out like he expected Riku to shake on it. "Three days, and I won't breathe a word to Kairi at all. That's my one condition."

Riku hunched his shoulders and have Lea a surly look. "Three days without training, she's gonna _know_ something's wrong," he said, folding his arms with a huff. "I can't do it."

"Riku you can do _anything_ , come on."

Riku gave a start at that. He'd said it like it was so simple, like it was just the facts, and Riku didn't think that at all. He couldn't do just anything, no way! He wasn't that talented.

"Tell her you're doing a special assignment and you have to take a few days," he said, and then held up one finger when Riku made to protest. " _Aa_ —it's not a lie. It's a special assignment _I'm_ giving you, and she doesn't have to know what it is."

Riku averted his eyes. How had he known that was what he was going to say? "Still feels like lying," he said stiffly.

"Well, it ain't lying," Lea said, shaking his head. "Trust me, I know about lying."

With a heavy sigh, Riku scrubbed at his face with one hand again. Part of him _did_ kind of want to go back to sleep—he was cold and he was exhausted, but he was used to just working through that. Was it really okay to just take it easy? What about training? What about Xehanort? He bet Xehanort never took a day off. Looking back up at Lea, though, he knew this wasn't really up for debate. Lea obviously knew how to drive a hard bargain, and he was driving one now. If he didn't go along, then he would definitely tell Kairi about it, and he really didn't want to worry her. Kairi always worried when he was sick—she'd made him soup before, and he hated being such an inconvenience. This was the better option, wasn't it?

"Ugh, okay fine, but... make it two days," he said, frowning.

"Riku, do we have to Rock Paper Scissors again?" Lea's tone was far more serious than his suggestion warranted. "How long are you usually sick?"

"Like a little more than a week," Riku said, something wary in his posture, like the answer might condemn him or something.

"Just take a few days to sleep it off and you'll shave that many off the whole thing, I promise," Lea said, shaking a finger at him. "You might be surprised at how much sooner you get over a cold if you just accept that you're sick and should be off your feet."

"No, that's..." he said, shaking his head, fisting his hands in the sheets where he sat. "I don't... know _how_ to just take it easy. Three whole days with no training and no missions, I'll go out of my mind!" He gave Lea a somewhat desperate look. "I'm being serious, okay? I'll... I'll try. I'll try and just take it easy, but three days is too much."

Lea stared him down for a good twelve seconds, then sighed and nodded, running a hand back through his hair in exasperation.

"All right, two days," he said, "but I'm not budging on that." He stuck his hand out again, and Riku stared at it a moment before he exhaled heavily and shook it.

"You can't tell my mom, either," he said, making a face. "She'll go all overboard and want to take me to a doctor or something."

Lea shook his head. "I won't have to tell your ma," he said, waving one hand. "Mothers know about these things instinctively."

Riku just groaned and buried his face in his hands. Why was Lea _doing_ this? He was perfectly capable of continuing to work with a cold, it was no big deal, he did it all the time. It was _just a cold_. "You know this is completely unnecessary, right?" he asked, his voice muffled through his hands, and Lea just sort of laughed.

"Friends do this sort of thing, too," he said, reaching out and ruffling Riku's hair with one hand.

Riku waved him off grumpily, trying to muster a scowl, but he couldn't quite manage. This felt really different from the way his mother tended to fuss over him. Lea was worried, and he could see that, but he wasn't being overbearing. It was strange, and not what he was used to at all. He lifted his head when he heard Lea shift to head for the door.

He leapt to his feet to follow him, prepared to make him pinkie promise on this (because that was the highest grade of promise, wasn't it? Kairi seemed to think so), but instead he stumbled. His head was swimming, and he sort of gasped as his knees gave out from under him, sending him pitching toward the floor. Lea moved so fast he didn't even see him, he just felt a strong hand catch him by the upper arm and halt his descent.

"You're not doing a very good job of resting, sport," Lea said grimly, and Riku just flushed with embarrassment (or maybe fever, or maybe both) and jerked his arm free.

"It's a promise," he said quickly, his lips a thin line across his face. "You can't tell Kairi _or_ my mom."

Lea just stood there and dragged his thumb in an X over the left side of his chest. "Cross my heart," he said, and that was good enough for Riku. He knew Lea had no intention of doing _anything_ to jeopardize his heart again, not even something as simple as breaking a heart-crossed promise. More than that, he had a distinct feeling that Lea just _didn't break_ promises. That was what he'd said to Kairi, right? That he didn't make promises he couldn't keep? Lea crossing his heart might have been even _more_ binding than a pinkie promise.

"You gotta keep your end of the bargain, too," Lea reminded him, jerking his chin back toward the bed. "Go."

Riku all but _sulked_ as he returned to the bed, sitting down with a pointed harrumph. Seemingly satisfied, Lea nodded and headed out into the hallway, closing the door behind him. Riku could hear him whistling as he headed down the hall, and he flopped backward onto the bed with a baleful noise, covering his face with the pillow.

His clothes were dry now, at least, and if he had no choice (he had the feeling Lea was going to camp the hallway to make sure he stayed in here), he figured he might as well get a little more sleep. He really was pretty tired. He sighed heavily, coughing into one arm, and then just dragged the covers up around his neck, nestling into the bed and closing his eyes. He was _so_ going to get Lea for this later.

* * *

super thanks again to Numinous Scribe for an in-depth review! it totally makes my day to get comments like that, so thank you so much! you're welcome to leave unsigned comments on AO3 if you like, i can respond to you directly there, instead of in notes here, but whichever you prefer is fine with me, i'm just glad you're enjoying the story. i'd love to hear the trick that so greatly changed your life, so please don't hesitate to send me a PM!

thanks as well to everyone reading! eventually i'll get this monster caught up to what's on the other site, i promise.


	18. Announcement

hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates. i've stopped posting this fic here because the formatting restrictions are just ridiculous and i think the fic just looks awful the way it's presented here. i won't be posting any further updates to this server, HOWEVER, i have been posting monthly updates on AO3, so if you like what you've read here, i hope you'll come find me over there!

links aren't supported, so i can't leave one for you, but the fic and my author name are both the same, Dance While You Can, by kawree. so i hope you'll make the trek over to AO3 and keep reading it there! thanks so much!


End file.
